The project will also promote farm-oriented local research. Women farmers, in particular, will be encouraged to participate in the training activities to enable them to take a larger role in pest management decision making. Farmers will finally learn that an unsprayed cotton field is not necessarily devastated by pest outbreaks. In many developing countries safe use of pesticides is practically impossible. Protective clothing is prohibitively expensive and the tropical heat makes it almost impossible to wear.
Many pesticides pose an enormous risk to human health and the environment.
Chronic poisoning, the increase of insecticide resistance of many pests and the destruction of natural enemies are some of the main problems. FAO has a long history in IPM and cotton production. The UN agency started working on more environmentally-friendly production methods in developing countries in the 1960s. Currently FAO manages community IPM programmes on rice and vegetables, involving more than one million farmers in 12 Asian countries.