Reducing insecticide use in Southeast Asian irrigated rice fields: From experimental ecology to large scale change in practices

Abstract

The green revolution in irrigated rice has tripled its production in Asia, but also created serious environmental problems, especially a common overconsumption of insecticides. It has led to disorganized ecological regulations, shortened food webs, infestations by secondary pests, crop losses, farmer health problems and lower economic results. Based on the understanding of ecological regulations enhanced by the enrichment of the biodiversity of all functional groups of useful organisms, since 1993 the implementation of integrated pest management (IPM) on the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) experimental farm has led to a 97 % reduction in insecticide use while retaining the same production level. Following demonstration trials, to reach millions of small Vietnamese rice growers and encourage them to change their practices, a series of mass media campaigns and the entertainment-education approach were introduced. To entertain and educate by making learning fun, the radio soap opera method was successfully used in combination with other on-the-ground activities and media. The series consisted of episodes broadcast twice a week telling stories about village living with simple messages on IPM knowledge and principles built into them. First, simple decision rules were promoted which led to a very significant reduction in insecticide use. This was followed by an incremental approach under the "three reductions and three gains" program, with more reductions in seed and nitrogen rates, and insecticide sprays to boost economic returns. Significant differences in beliefs and practices between listeners and non-listeners were found. The analysis of this successful case study underlines the importance of taking into account social factors influencing the misuse of insecticides, and the need for rigorously enforced legal rules to regulate the marketing of this kind of input.