"Production and export of horticultural products are increasing rapidly in many developing countries... Rapid growth in horticultural production has been accompanied by heavy use of pesticides and by heightened concern over health effects associated with pesticide use and abuse...The three examples [in this study] demonstrate how applied research to support IPM can reduce pesticide use, residues, and export barriers." from TextFood safety ,food security ,Public health ,

Clarke-Harris, Dionne

Kone Teaore, Halimatou

Norton, George W.

Sanchez, Guillermo E.

English

Research Papers in Economics

FOR FOOD,AGRICULTURE,
AND THE ENVIRONMENT
FOCUS 10  •  BRIEF 10 OF 17  •  SEPTEMBER 2003
FOOD SAFETY IN FOOD SECURITY AND FOODTRADE
Case Study: Reducing Pesticide Residues 
on Horticultural Crops
GEORGEW. NORTON,G UILLERMO E. SANCHEZ,D IONNE CLARKE-HARRIS,
AND HALIMATOU KONÉTRAORÉ
P
roduction and export of horticultural products are
increasing rapidly in many developing countries. From 1970
to 2002, fruit and vegetable production in developing countries
almost quadrupled from 256 to 960 million metric tons, while
exports more than tripled from 1.9 to 6.5 million metric tons.
Demand for these high-value commodities is stimulated by
income growth, reductions in transportation costs, and, in
some cases, increased market access. Production for export is
often encouraged as a means of generating foreign exchange,
increasing incomes to producers, and providing employment
for the rural poor. Importing countries benefit from increased
supplies of products that historically have been scarce and
expensive in the off-season.
Rapid growth in horticultural production has been accom-
panied by heavy use of pesticides and by heightened concern
over health effects associated with pesticide use and abuse.
Heavy pesticide use occurs, in part, because numerous pests
attack horticultural crops, including the fruit itself, reducing
market value and yield on high-value crops. Pesticide use raises
safety concerns for agricultural workers who apply pesticides.
Concern is particularly high in flower production because of
heavy spraying in enclosed conditions. Potential food safety
risks from pesticide residues are also a significant issue for
importers of fresh fruits and vegetables and a market-risk fac-
tor for exporters who may have shipments detained or reject-
ed if residues exceed allowable limits.
Countries must strike a delicate balance between minimiz-
ing pesticide residues and maintaining other aspects of product
quality, while also trying to eliminate pests from horticultural
shipments. Pests, particularly exotic or potentially invasive
ones, can cause detentions at ports as quickly as pesticide
residues can. Rejection of even one shipment because of the
discovery of an unknown pest at a port can result in the
exporting country being placed on a quarantine list for that
commodity, thus eliminating one import market. Repeated vio-
lations of residue requirements can result in automatic deten-
tion (inspection or fumigation or both) of all shipments from a
country until it can document sufficient preinspection quality
control. Developing countries are especially vulnerable to
detentions as many of their horticultural exports are nontradi-
tional ones for which preinspection protocols may not exist.
Therefore, these countries seek pest management approaches
that minimize pesticide use and residues, while providing high-
quality, pest-free produce under preinspection procedures that
can be documented.
Integrated pest management (IPM) systems that rely on
biological, cultural, and other less chemically intensive
approaches to pest management are one answer. IPM systems
have been developed for several horticultural commodities in
developing countries to minimize residues and provide prein-
spection documentation.These systems require cooperation
between the public and private sectors and between exporters
and importers.The three examples below demonstrate how
applied research to support IPM can reduce pesticide use,
residues, and export barriers.These examples are drawn from
collaborative efforts under the U.S.Agency for International
Development (USAID)-funded Integrated Pest Management
Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP).
SNOW PEAS IN GUATEMALA
Commercial production of nontraditional fruits and vegetables
for export has been the fastest growing segment of the agri-
cultural industry in Central America for the past 20 years.
Since the early 1990s, horticultural exports from Guatemala
have been plagued by detentions and rejections at U.S. ports
because of the presence of pesticide residues or pests them-
selves. Snow peas (Pisum sativum), a primary Guatemalan veg-
etable export, have been under automatic detention by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1992, initially
because of pesticide contamination and recently because
postharvest handling programs did not meet FDA require-
ments for preinspection protocols. From 1995 to 1997 all
Guatemalan snow pea imports were quarantined (rejected) by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture when the presence of the
leaf miner Liriomyza huidobrensis was discovered in a shipment.
The result has been reduced competitiveness for Guatemalan
snow pea exports since 1992, and losses of $35 million per
year during a ban from 1995 to 1997.
The government of Guatemala,in collaboration with IPM
CRSP,provided research and technical assistance that resolved
the snow pea leaf-miner quarantine problem.Researchers dis-
covered that the leaf miner found during the 1995 inspection
was not a species exotic to the United States and consequently
did not threaten U.S.producers. The Guatemalan government
undertook IPM research and developed strategies to reduce
pesticide use and residues on snow peas and to enhance prod-
uct quality.The IPM program has an onfarm research and train-
ing component and a preinspection component for postharvest
handling,so that most snow peas are produced and handled in a
manner consistent with U.S.standards.Snow pea IPM systems in
Guatemala have been included in government-supported inte-
grated crop management demonstration and training programs
that cover practices such as pest identification and monitoring,
trap cropping,soil disinfection,biorational pesticide use,and vari-
ety selection.
About half the snow peas produced in Guatemala come
from one of three systems: farms that both grow and ship,
cooperatives that market for many producers,or growers whoproduce under contract to export firms.All of these supply
channels have good preinspection protocols.Independent pro-
ducers supply the other 50 percent of snow peas in open mar-
ket areas. Many of these producers have not adopted prein-
spection protocols,which is why Guatemalan snow peas are
automatically inspected in U.S.ports,even though the U.S.has
lifted the ban.The IPM CRSP,the Government of Guatemala,and
private exporters are working together to improve practices
among independent producers.For those growers who have
received training in IPM and preinspection protocols since the
program began in the mid 1990s,rejections at U.S.ports have
been reduced by 50 to 75 percent.
HOT PEPPERS IN JAMAICA 
The Caribbean region, including Jamaica, is exporting increased
quantities of vegetables, including hot peppers. Because
Jamaican peppers have arrived at U.S. ports infested with gall
midge (the pest was found in more than 100 shipments in
1998), the U.S.Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) instituted mandatory fumigation. Pepper exports from
Jamaica declined by more than two-thirds from 1997 to 2000
as a result of the added cost of this fumigation. In response,
USAID’s IPM CRSP program and several agencies of the
Jamaican government developed a multifaceted IPM program.
As a result, shipments found to be infested with gall midge
have dropped by more than 90 percent.APHIS removed the
mandatory fumigation requirement in 2002, provided growers
met several conditions: they had to participate in the IPM field
control program, and those with shipments rejected for the
midge would be removed from the program.
In this case, IPM strategies involve (1) improving cultural
practices and reducing pesticide use in the field, (2) substituting
a less costly and an environmentally safe fumigant for methyl
bromide when pre-clearance fumigation is needed, (3) institut-
ing a system that enables each shipment to be traced back to
the grower, (4) monitoring gall midge progression in the field,
and (5) training extension officers and farmers.The hot pepper
case illustrates the importance of multi-institutional farmer-to-
consumer strategies for implementing a successful IPM pro-
gram. More than 400 farmers have been assigned traceability
numbers so far this year.
HORTICULTURAL CROPS IN MALI 
The growth of commercial agriculture in many African coun-
tries, including nontraditional periurban horticultural crops, has
resulted in increased pesticide use in that region. Horticultural
crops,produced in Mali after the subsistence crop harvest,are
exported to Europe during the winter months to provide sup-
plementary income to producers. As markets develop abroad,
and food safety standards continue to tighten domestically and
internationally,environmental quality laboratories (EQLs) are
needed to satisfy market requirements for safe foods.In Mali,
the IPM CRSP joined with local agencies to develop IPM pro-
grams to manage disease and insect pests while reducing pesti-
cide use on vegetables such as green beans.These IPM programs
train farmers in field schools and provide technical support and
equipment such as EQLs for residue analysis.Through these
investments,Mali is developing a quality-assurance program that
can meet the stringent requirements of horticultural import
markets in Europe. Such efforts show that African nations,
which have historically applied fewer pesticides than other coun-
tries,are increasingly forced to address pesticide residue issues
and can do so successfully.
CONCLUSION
These three cases illustrate (1) the need to institute preinspec-
tion programs that include both farm-level IPM and posthar-
vest quality-control mechanisms if a country hopes to reduce
pesticide residues and remain competitive in international mar-
kets for horticultural products, (2) the need for public/private
partnerships to facilitate adoption and documentation of
appropriate pest control procedures, and (3) the benefits of
cooperation between public agencies in exporting and import-
ing countries in developing preinspection protocols.The
Guatemalan snow pea and the Jamaican hot pepper cases illus-
trate the potential that IPM research, combined with stringent
preinspection programs, has for improving market access.The
Guatemalan case also demonstrates the difficulty of instituting
widespread preinspection programs to meet stringent guide-
lines when thousands of small farmers are involved. But market
requirements may eventually force a shift toward more struc-
tured marketing channels if horticultural exporters are to
meet quality and safety guidelines. If farmers fail to meet these
guidelines, they will be excluded from lucrative markets.
Smaller producers, therefore, will likely be forced over time to
increase in size, produce under contract, or join a marketing
cooperative in order to survive as exporters. ■
For further reading see IPM CRSP, Ninth Annual Report 2001-
2002 (Blacksburg,Va., USA: Office of International Research,
Education, and Development (OIRED),Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, 2003); and J.W. Julian, G. H.
Sullivan, and G. E. Sanchez,“Future Market Development
Issues Impacting Central America’s Nontraditional
Agricultural Export Sector: Guatemala Case Study,”
American Journal of Agricultural Economics 82 (November
2000): 1177–1183.
George Norton (gnorton@vt.edu) is professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and technical chair 
of the IPM CRSP; Guillermo E. Sanchez (gsanchez1@intelnet.net.gt) is former site coordinator, IPM CRSP Guatemala; Dionne Clarke-Harris (dcharris@
uwimona.edu.jm) is site coordinator, IPM CRSP Jamaica; and Halimatou Koné Traoré (straore@datatech.net.ml) is an entomologist at the Institut d’Economie
Rurale, Mali.The authors would like to thank Glenn Sullivan, James Julian, Sue Tolin, Pat Hipkins, Jean Cobb, Donald Mullins, and other IPM CRSP scientists 
for contributing to the research on which this brief is based.
International Food Policy Research Institute
2033 K Street, N.W. •  Washington, D.C. 20006-1002  •  U.S.A.
Phone: +1-202-862-5600  •  Fax: +1-202-467-4439  •  Email: ifpri@cgiar.org
www.ifpri.org 

Case study reducing pesticide residues on horticultural crops

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Case study reducing pesticide residues on horticultural crops

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