Plant Protection Products (PPPs), also known as pesticides, are chemical or biological substances used to control unwanted pests that can harm our food, health or environment.
PPPs are one of the vital tools that help our farmers grow healthy crops, protecting our food supply against yield losses and damage caused by the weeds, diseases and insects which already cost us between 20-40% of our food supply. Without access to modern PPPs it is estimated that yields would fall by a further 20-40%.
Without these products, crop yields would fall, many foodstuffs would be in short supply, and food prices would rise. Research suggests the average grocery bill for a family of four, would rise by more than £15 per week - £786 per year – without PPPs. The cost of fresh fruit and vegetables would rise by about 40%, making it more costly to get your five-a-day.
Over 97% of UK farms use modern PPPs as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to dealing with a range of pest problems. They can be formulated as liquids, granules or powders. Some are used pre-sowing as seed treatments, but most PPPs are diluted in water and applied to crops using specialised spraying equipment.
Advances in product development, formulation and application ensure that modern pesticides are safer, more precisely targeted and more rapidly degraded in the environment than ever before.