Four decades of pesticide use in Bhutan: trends in national distribution, potential drivers, and policy implications (1986–2024)

BACKGROUND Global pesticide consumption has nearly doubled since 1990, yet long‐term trajectories in low‐input agricultural systems remain poorly documented. This study provides the first systematic assessment of Bhutan's pesticide use over four decades (1986–2024), using national pesticide distribution records as a proxy indicator of consumption and examining temporal and spatial patterns in relation to socio‐economic, institutional and phytosanitary changes. RESULTS Breakpoint analysis identified a marked structural shift after 2014–2015, with pesticide distribution intensity rising from 0.021 to 0.307 kg ha −1 . Herbicides account for >70% of consumption, dominated by butachlor, which accounted for 87% of annual herbicide distribution. Class III products comprised ~76% of distribution, indicating a shift in hazard class composition rather than a reduction in overall reliance on synthetic pesticides. Of the 389.1 metric tonnes with district‐level records from 1998 to 2024, four western valleys accounted for 71%. Herbicides accounted for >70% of total distribution, dominated by a single active ingredient, butachlor, which accounted for 87% of annual herbicide use. Expenditure totalled approximately USD 4.57 million since 2007, with 87% occurring after 2014. The post‐2014 increase coincided with a tenfold increase in monthly outmigration, an 8.3% decline in the working‐age population, and a 13 percentage points decline in agriculture's share of employment. CONCLUSION The post‐2014 increase in pesticide distribution was dominated by herbicides and coincided with substantial changes in agricultural labour conditions. Documented hiring difficulties and labour shortages suggest that labour constraints may have contributed to greater reliance on chemical weed management, although causal attribution remains inferential. The concentration of distribution around butachlor, and limited adoption of non‐chemical alternatives, suggests increasing pesticide dependence and conditions potentially conducive to economic lock‐in. Targeted investment in labour‐saving non‐chemical weed management, integrated pest management, biological alternatives, resistant varieties and predictive surveillance could help prevent further dependence.