ABSTRACT
The rice paddy ecosystem is probably the contributor, or at least a major one, to pesticide pollution in aquatic ecosystems through its irrigation canals, which carry off water from the paddy fields. Almost half of the pesticides sold in the Philippines are used in rice production (CPAP, 1993; 1996). However, with the government’s effort to promote IPM schemes, pesticide usage should be considerably reduced as IPM implementation increases. Rice farmers currently apply an average of 2.1 applications/crop season at an average of 1.57 kg a.i. ha-1 (Rola and Pingali, 1993).
