Towards safer use of pesticides in Chile

The use of pesticides for pest and disease control has increased agricultural production worldwide, but has also led to increased negative impacts on land use, the environment, and human exposure to various pesticide residues (Wilson and Tisdell 2001 ). Another important external effect is the unintended destruction of beneficial predators of pests, increasing the virulence of many types of agricultural pests. The economic costs of pesticide use have been greatly underestimated in the past. For example, Bourguet and Guillemaud ( 2016 ) evaluated the benefit–cost ratio of pesticide use in the past in different countries; their results suggest that the costs of pesticide use may have already exceeded its benefits. However, despite the high social costs, farmers continue to use pesticides, and in increasing amounts in most countries (Schreinemachers and Tipraqsa 2012 ).