ABSTRACT
Of the modem agricultural technologies introduced since the Second World War, none has been more important (both in terms of transforming farming practices and in attracting controversy) than the pesticide. Controversy arises in part because pesticides are dangerous chemicals by their very nature. They are designed as biocides specifically to kill living things - be they insect pests, fungi or weeds. In recent years, controversy has focused in Britain and elsewhere in Europe upon the presence of pesticides in the water environment in general and in drinking water supplies in particular. This chapter examines the emergence of a water pollution problem in Britain associated with pesticides used in agriculture. It addresses the question of how pesticides have become such an important part of arable farming practice; how the problem of pesticide pollution has emerged; and how meeting new 'sustainable development' policy objectives might affect the regulation of pesticide use in the future. Survey evidence from the River Ouse catchment in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire is also presented to shed light on how farmers decide to use pesticides and how they understand the associated environmental risks.
