Farmers and growers used significantly fewer pesticides in 2024: the use of crop protection products fell by more than twenty percent compared to 2020. Statistics Netherlands reported this on Thursday based on new figures. Agriculture used 5.6 kilos of pesticides per hectare, compared to 7.1 kilos four years earlier. More than a quarter of the products used fall under ‘green’ or sustainable crop protection.
In particular, the use of products against insects and mites decreased in 2024, by almost a third compared to 2020. Products against fungi and bacteria were used almost a quarter less than four years earlier, although this remains the most used pesticide category. Half of the pesticides were used for the cultivation of potatoes and lilies.
Once every four years, the statistics office asks agricultural companies how many pesticides they use per crop. A possible explanation for the decrease in use is that a number of substances have now been banned, such as the fungicide mancozeb, which has been subject to a European ban since 2021. As a result, the use of fungicides has fallen by 72 percent.
Rain
But the weather can also influence pesticide use. For example, the use of fungicides in consumption potatoes has actually increased compared to 2020, reports Statistics Netherlands. It rained a lot in 2024, which increased the risk of rot on potato tubers, for example.
CBS spokesperson Vinodh Lalta cannot say whether the wet weather has also had an influence on the decrease in total pesticide use. “We have not asked farmers why they use fewer resources.”
The decline could also be due to “awareness” and “behavior change” due to the harmful effects of some pesticides, Lalta says. Or resources could have a higher concentration compared to 2020, meaning less is needed. It may also have to do with the crops, which may have “improved to such an extent that they are more resistant to bugs and diseases.”
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