On behalf of Defra, CRD manages a substantial Research & Development programme in support of Government policy on pesticide use. The main areas of research include: safe use of pesticides, including effects on non-target species; operator safety and spray drift; alternative systems of pest and disease control (e.g. biological controls); pesticide resistance, and the fate of pesticides in the environment.
Below is a list of a few examples of research commissioned by CRD. | Project number click for summary | Title | Contractor | Date |
| | CRD commissioned research to evaluate the performance of the Voluntary Initiative for pesticides. The final report (pdf, 167 pages) is now available. | FERA | 2006 |
| | Research investigating declines in effectiveness of triazoles against Septoria tritici (Final report now available pdf 18pages) | ADAS | 2007 |
| | The Economic Impact of Directive 91/414/EEC and Legislation on Maximum Residue Levels (pdf, 48 pages) | Drew-Associates Limited | 2006 |
| | Assessment of the Agronomic Impact of Directive 91/414/EEC and Legislation on Maximum Residue Levels (pdf, 293 pages) | Drew-Associates Limited | 2006 |
| PL0538 | Development of guidance on parameter estimation for the preferential flow model MACRO 4.2 (pdf, 68 pages). The MACRO model is used to simulate movement of pesticides to surface waters via drainflow and leaching to depth through soils prone to preferential flow. | Cranfield University | 2002 |
| | Reducing Agrochemical Use on the Arable Farm: the TALISMAN and SCARAB Projects These evolved as follow-on studies to the Boxworth Project which broke new ground during the 1980s as the first long-term, farm-scale project to investigate the ecological impact of intensive arable farming practices. TALISMAN and SCARAB were designed to examine in greater scientific detail many of the issues raised by the Boxworth Project. | ADAS | 2002 |
| EPG 1/5/131 | Higher Tier Laboratory Aquatic Toxicity Testing (pdf, 70 pages) Reviews the role of higher tier laboratory aquatic toxicity studies in the risk assessment process. | Cranfield University | 2001 |
| PN0907 | Potential Exposure of Birds to Treated Seed (pdf, 53 pages) Seed treated with pesticides may pose a risk to birds. This study investigates those risks. | FERA | 2001 |
| PN0908 | Methods for estimating daily food intake of wild birds and mammals (pdf, 22 pages) Reviews data on daily energy expenditure and food intake in relation to the risks posed by pesticides | FERA | 2002 |
| PN0920 | UK Case Studies on Quantitative Risk Assessment (pdf, 39 pages) This project used case studies to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of applying probabilistic methods to regulatory assessments for pesticides. | FERA | 2002 |
| PN0928 | Protocols for laboratory, extended laboratory and semi-field bioassays in pesticide risk assessment schemes for non-target arthropods (pdf, 19 pages) | Rothamsted Research | 2002 |
| PN0935 | Estimating pesticide residues on invertebrates eaten by birds and mammals (poster presented at SETAC Annual Meeting, Baltimore, 11/2001) (pdf, 1 page) | FERA | 2001 |
| PN0940 | The Impact of Herbicides on Weed Abundance and Biodiversity (pdf, 147 pages) Examines non-target effects of herbicides on higher plant species within arable and horticultural crops. | IACR & Marshall Agroecology Ltd
CAER, University of Reading
FERA
SCRI | 2001 |
| PL0516 | Evaluation of the use of preferential flow models to predict the movement of pesticides to water sources under UK conditions (pdf, 101 pages) This study evaluated the predictive ability of preferential flow models against pesticide datasets for a range of UK conditions | Cranfield University | 1998 |
All are pdf files. Some are quite large files. If you do not have the necessary software to read pdf files or do not wish to download the whole document you can view an html executive summary of most by clicking on the project number.
