It may be possible to curb pesticide use on some farms without lowering yields or cutting profits.

Martin Lechenet and Nicolas Munier-Jolain at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research in Dijon and their colleagues assessed whether herbicides, fungicides and insecticides are associated with productivity or profitability at 946 arable farms across France. They found that pesticides do not drive yields or income for 77% of the farms, but noted that results varied between crops. Cereal yields, for example, were not adversely affected by decreased pesticide use, but the profitability of potato and sugar-beet crops relied heavily on chemicals.

All farms could change their practices and rely on other technological innovations to reduce pesticide use while protecting crops from disease, the authors say.

Nature Plants 3, 17008 (2017)