Abstract

LEYVA MORALES, José Belisario et al. Pesticide use in a technified agricultural valley in Northwest Mexico. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2014, vol.30, n.3, pp.247-261. ISSN 0188-4999.

The present study compares two procedures for assessing pesticide use during the fall/ winter (O-I) 2011-2012 and spring/summer (P-V) 2012 cycles in the Culiacán Valley, Sinaloa. This region has national importance due to its agricultural production of vegetables and grain crops. Differences between the two procedures were analyzed in terms of the total amount of active ingredient as recorded in an inventory of pesticide containers from the "Campo Limpio" program and application logbooks of several agricultural companies. There was a correspondence between the number of pesticide containers from the inventory and the total amount of active ingredient (t) estimated by the two procedures. In general, fungicides were the most frequently used pesticides, followed by herbicides and insecticides, although the proportion of their use varies according to the agricultural cycle. The dominant chemical classes were dithiocarbamates, bipyridyls, organophosphates, organochlorines, inorganic compounds, carbamates and pyrethroids. The most used pesticides are classified as low hazard threats according to the World Health Organization criteria. The O-I cycle had greater cultivated area, crop diversity and use, as well as, wider variety of pesticides than the P-V cycle. The record of the current use of pesticides in the region can help us predict their fate in the environment, once we know their physicochemical characteristics. This would allow the design of environmental monitoring schemes targeted at specific environmental compartments, the measurement of the impact of programs to reduce pesticide use, and the assessment of risk to the environment and human health.

Keywords : agrochemicals; agricultural cycle; Culiacán.

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