Sales of pesticides for agricultural use in the Netherlands, 1985-2002

There has been a downward trend for all the main categories of pesticides in recent years, among other things as a result of various bans on the use of those agents.

		1985	1990	1995	1999	2000	2001	2002
		1,000 kg active ingredient
Total		21 003	18 837	10 922	10 232	9 644	7 866	8 072
Insecticides		634	731	495	338	260	227	186
Carbamates		74	93	113	82	68	74	46
Organophosphates		303	447	253	159	141	90	80
including	dichlorvos	7	38	41	0	0	1	0
	dimethoate	32	79	57	34	43	30	33
	parathion-ethyl	110	107	47	32	8	10	6
Fungicides		4 363	4 143	3 991	4 564	4 460	3 628	3 582
Captan and related compounds		606	434	709	506	380	402	481
Dithiocarbamates		2 453	2 436	2 026	2 314	2 242	1 964	1 002
among which	mancozeb	.	.	888	1 553	1 607	1 386	174
	maneb	1 991	1 383	861	472	338	279	64
Nitro compounds		19	19	160	191	237	222	266
Pyrimidine compounds		388	232	149	10	10	9	9
Carbamates		.	.	66	241	295	62	432
Herbicides		3 978	3 467	3 070	2 842	2 605	2 171	2 171
Dinitroalkylphenols		615	380	151	15	0	0	0
Phenoxy carbon acids		756	708	414	332	398	307	342
Triazines and triazinones		630	499	412	347	288	244	202
Ureum compounds		306	378	349	290	230	163	181
Amino phosphonates 1)		.	.	344	571	613	509	439
Soil Disinfectants		10 784	8 937	2 374	1 468	1 402	985	1 200
Other		1 244	1 559	992	1 020	1 087	854	890
Mineral oil		931	1 237	764	814	748	644	667
Source: Nefyto.						CBS/EDC/May03/0015
1) Included in 1985 and 1990 under other herbicides.

Sales of pesticides

There has been a sharp fall in all the main categories of pesticides in recent years, among other things as a result of various bans on the use of those agents.
In the case of potatoes, there was a fall in the sales of carbamates as fungicides. There was a lot of debate in 2001 about the approval of one of the active substances. Potato growers have possibly switched to another agent because the one in question was no longer available.
Environmental organisations have objected to the use of some fungicides (maneb and mancozeb) during the course of 2002. This resulted in the withdrawal of these agents. It should be pointed out that the College voor de toelating van Bestrijdingsmiddelen (Pesticides Approval Committee) granted approval again with effect from 24 January 2003 after new directions for use had been submitted.

Technical note

The sales figures do not provide a good picture of the precise scale of use but are suitable for deriving information on developments.

The Dutch Association for Phytopharmacy (Nefyto) registers data from its members. In recent years these data have covered approximately 85% of the total sales of agricultural pesticides. The figures include sales to private individuals and applications in public green spaces. Rough estimates indicate that these types of use are less than 5% of Nefyto's sales and are mainly in the form of herbicides.

References

• Nefyto (2003). Nefyto. Gewasbescherming in cijfers. Dutch Association for Phytopharmacy, The Hague.

Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium

• Agricultural use of chemical pesticides on some crops in the Netherlands, 1995-2000*
• Volume developments in Agriculture and horticulture in the Netherlands, 1980-2001
• Emissions of pesticides in the Netherlands, 1984-2000
• Run-off and drainage of pesticides in the Netherlands, 2000
• Pesticides in brackish and marine surface water in the Netherlands, 1997-2001
• Pesticides in the soil in the Netherlands
• Pesticides: impact on the goshawk (page is not available yet)

Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium

• More data about the sales of pesticides, artificial and organic fertilisers can be obtained from Nefyto. Nefyto (the Dutch Association for Phytopharmacy) is the trade organisation of the Dutch pesticides industry. The companies affiliated to the Dutch Association for Phytopharmacy market plant protection products in the Netherlands.