Maintain and enhance biodiversity: Invertebrates - reduce pesticide impacts
Activities making a positive contribution:
| Activities | Score |
| Use pesticide products that are less toxic to non-target invertebrates | 9 |
| Avoid spraying when crops or weeds are in flower | 7 |
| Clean up any spills or splashes of pesticide immediately | 5 |
| Create an artificial windbreak between sprayed areas and surrounding environment | 5 |
| Use tunnel pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Ensure that your pesticide store is secure and located more than 10m away from a watercourse and/or drain | 5 |
| Hard surfaces where pesticides are handled drain into proper sewers or treatment facilities | 5 |
| Maintain pesticide equipment to prevent leaks and failures | 5 |
| Operators are steady on their feet when pouring pesticides directly into a tank, preferably on the ground or a platform at the right height | 5 |
| Pesticide handling facilities are located at least 10m away from any watercourses or vulnerable sites | 5 |
| Pesticide handling facilities are located away from existing farmyard flash flood routes, rain water outlets and gutter outfalls | 5 |
| Pesticide stores are capable of retaining spills and leaks | 5 |
| Plant a vegetative windbreak between sprayed areas and surrounding environment | 5 |
| Reduce the height of the sprayer boom | 5 |
| Reduce the travelling speed of the sprayer | 5 |
| Replace caps on pesticide containers after rinsing and draining and store them upright in an outer carton | 5 |
| Sprayers are washed in a bunded area and washings are collected | 5 |
| Sprayers are washed in the field | 5 |
| Sprayers are washed on biobeds | 5 |
| Use a fill-level alarm, flow meter or pre-set shut-off valve when filling sprayers | 5 |
| Use a suitable funnel and fill slowly so air can enter while pouring when filling sprayers | 5 |
| Use air-assisted pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Use banded pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Use closed transfer systems | 5 |
| Use low drift nozzles when applying pesticides | 5 |
| Use no crop zones | 5 |
| Use no spray zones | 5 |
| Use sensor-equiped pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Use shielded pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Only use pesticides on food crops when pest thresholds have been exceeded | 4.5 |
| Only use pesticides on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) when pest thresholds have been exceeded | 4.5 |
| Do not use synthetic pesticides | 4 |
| Reduce the number of pesticide applications on food crops | 4 |
| Reduce the number of pesticide applications on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 4 |
| Use pest and disease resistant varieties for food crops | 4 |
| Use pest and disease resistant varieties for non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 4 |
| Reduce pesticide application rates on food crops | 3.8 |
| Reduce pesticide application rates on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3.8 |
| Regularly calibrate pesticide sprayers used on food crops | 3.8 |
| Regularly calibrate pesticide sprayers used on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3.8 |
| Use a diverse crop rotation to reduce the incidence of weeds, pests and diseases in food crops | 3.8 |
| Use a diverse crop rotation to reduce the incidence of weeds, pests and diseases in non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3.8 |
| Use biological control on food crops | 3.7 |
| Use biological control on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3.7 |
| Use mechanical or flame weeding on food crops | 3 |
| Use mechanical or flame weeding on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3 |
| Use spray additives | 3 |
| Only use legally approved pesticide products | 2 |
| Use pesticide products in accordance with any requirement or condition specified in the approval or in any extension of use or on the label of the product as required by the approval or extension of use | 2 |
Activities making a negative contribution:
| Activities | Score |
| Use pesticides that are not legally approved | -5 |
| Continuous cropping (monoculture) | -3.8 |
| Use synthetic pesticides on food crops | -3.8 |
| Use synthetic pesticides on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | -3.8 |
| Control stem-base diseases | -3 |
| Use plant growth regulators (PGRs) on cereal crops | -3 |
Defra Project IF0131
Assessment of reduction in environmental burdens through targeted measures compared with whole farm approaches in cropping and livestock systems
© AERU, University of Hertfordshire
Friday 30 October 2009