VIEWPOINT : Do Present Pesticide Rules Assure Safety? : <i> Proper Use Has Made State Top Grower </i>

Leaders of a number of California agricultural organizations and rural legislators are urging stiffer penalties for violations of agricultural pesticide regulations.

The use of pesticides to ensure healthy crops, along with abundant fertile land, irrigation water and a temperate climate, make California the No. 1 state in agricultural production in our nation. Pesticides make it possible for us to produce top-quality food and fiber in proliferation and at a reasonable price to consumers.

The chemicals protect the plants from attack by insects, and they eliminate weeds that battle the plants for food and water. The result: increased production of nutritious food. California agriculture produces more than 40% of the fresh fruits and vegetables grown commercially in the United States. Our fruits, vegetable and nut crops total more than $5.8 billion in farm income. Our state’s 50,000 farmers, while small in total numbers, carry a large burden of food production, one of our nation’s real strengths.

California has become the nation’s top farm state because of our ability to produce large quantities of high-quality food. The recent watermelon incident is an aberration, clearly caused by the abuse of pesticide regulations, not by any breakdown of the system. The abusers should be severely penalized if they are proven to have deliberately applied pesticides illegally. But those who have not abused the system should not be penalized because they have already suffered. The watermelon market will probably be affected by sluggish demand and low prices for the remainder of the season and perhaps next year as well.

Despite complaints by anti-pesticide crusaders, the safe use of pesticides has been documented and redocumented over the years. In fact, California has the strictest pesticide regulations in the world. Some say they are not strict enough, and sometimes we may feel that those regulations are arbitrary. Sometimes they are, but abuse of the regulations will only mean stricter rules or the loss of significant numbers of pesticides for our use. No system is perfect, but over the years we have had clean food at low prices because of our system.

California has a wide-ranging system of testing for pesticide residues in the field, in the packing sheds and in the supermarkets. The system has proven to work more than 99% of the time.

We farmers know that there are many people, many of them well intentioned, who want to eliminate pesticides. But they are not dealing with the realities of providing food for millions of people on a daily basis. Their understanding of pesticide use is limited, at best.

Farmers work with pesticides on a daily basis. They, more than anyone else, realize the importance of pesticides to the state’s No. 1 industry. Farmers must be commited to the safe use of pesticides to guarantee their continued availability.

Missing the Fact

As for those who continue to argue for increased regulation of pesticides, they are missing the fact that an industry as diverse as agriculture should not be constrained by rigid rules.

Applying too many of them would be the regulatory equivalent of blocking the sunshine needed for a growing industry.

The people deserve a safe food supply, and they need continuing reassurance. Our food is safe and the farmers of California are dedicated to keeping it that way. We will settle for nothing less.