ABSTRACT
The use of chemical pesticides was widely introduced and promoted in developing countries as an essential part of modernized farming systems in the course of agricultural modernization, the so-called ‘green revolution’. In the perceived need to increase food production and national self-sufficiency for a growing population, research and development as well as rapid expansion of yield-increasing technology packages were favoured. Since adoption of external technologies by smallholders was seen as a major problem, national governments, supported by international funding agencies, opted for pricing, marketing, extension and other intervention strategies that influenced farmers’ decisions towards the use of these kinds of input. The success of this strategy is underlined by available market forecasts for the period 1992-6, which show high growth rates of pesticide use in major developing countries, while markets in developed countries stagnated or declined (Woodbum, 1992).
