Replacement of the old generation of pesticides with a new suite of technology-based and ecological-based solutions to managing pests is an ongoing process. The resistance used to be ‘it’s not economical’. Now, viable alternatives to pesticides are available from companies who are reimagining how farming and food systems can work.

One area of change is the replacement of simplified and synthetic active ingredients with more complex biopesticides (that are often more specific and therefore less harmful to non-targeted species). Biopesticides require a shift in mindset and behaviour of producers. They take more time than chemicals to kill pest species (as the fungal, bacterial, or viral pathogen must invade the host and make them sick) and farmers need to factor this delay into production.

In the meantime, using pesticides more efficiently and site-specifically is becoming easier. Some farmers are investing in optical spot sprayers and autonomous robots, which can target herbicide application only on green plant material. This means that herbicides are applied over a much smaller geographic area. One company, SwarmFarm Robotic Agriculture, aims to remove the risk of spray drift by only spraying when it is safe to do so.

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