Rising pesticide use in Brazil raises wide concerns

Significance The law, strongly supported by the agricultural bloc in Congress, raises new questions about the potential impacts of pesticide use. Recent studies show that pesticide use has risen significantly in Brazil in the last seven years, tied to the expansion of food production and exports. Impacts Strong political support from the rural sector will make it difficult to tighten regulation and use of pesticides. Expanding pesticide use may represent yet another obstacle to the long-stalled Mercosur-EU treaty. Although biopesticides may reduce risks in future, it will take years for their use to expand sufficiently.