b'YOU ARE MYTH TAKENCROP PROTECTIONCOMPILED BY MARCEL BRUINSMYTH: FARMERS SPRAY A LOT OF CHEMICALS ON THEIR CROPSFACT:Farmers only use what is neces-sary to maintain the health of their plants and have a vested interest in using the smallest number of pesticides needed to control the pest, both for environmental as well as for economic reasons. Often, and depending on the product, it is a very small amount of active ingredient which can then be diluted with hundreds of litres of water. However, when spraying it can appear to be much more. In many cases, farmers usually only apply very little chemicals to a field-size area as large as a football pitch. So, they avoid unnecessary use of pesticides. Todays pesticides are designed to be used only when and where they are needed, and in the smallest amount possible, often in the order of less than a litre per hectare. Additionally, the chemicals they employ are very targeted. Pesticides are created specifically to combat particular weeds, insects, and other plant pathogens, not people or animals. It is important to understand that the risk to non-tar-get organisms is part of the pesticide approval process. In addition, farmers are trained in using pesticides. In the EU, farmers need a certification and need to complete several hours of training each year to maintain their licences. MYTH: FARMERS USE MORE PESTICIDES THAN IN THE PASTFACT:Since the 1950s there have been significant investments into crop protec-tion products, and this has led to contin-ued improvements in their effectiveness and efficiency. One way of demonstrating this is to look at the application rates of a product per hectare. As products have evolved, there has been a significant reduction in these rates, meaning that farmers need to apply a lower dose of a crop protection product to achieve the same efficacy.A recent report showed that the average application rates in the 1950s were 1,200, 1,700, and 2,400 grams of active ingredient used per hectare for fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides 24IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'