Technical aspects of the application of pesticides and other agricultural inputs are in many countries of the world neglected and at the field level unknown. Huge amounts of pesticides are wasted or unnecessarily applied and large numbers of persons involved in spraying suffer from intoxication because farmers and equipment operators do not know the principles of application technology and because the equipment they use is obsolete or in bad working condition. An occasional paper on "Agricultural Pesticide Application - Concepts for Improvements" is available in English and Spanish. Inadequate application techniques are often the reason why biological products, such as non-chemical alternatives to synthetic pesticides, fail on a commercial scale. FAO is addressing this problem with a Programme for Safe and Efficient Application of Agro-chemicals and Bio-products which includes awareness creation, technical advice and the formulation of Standards for safer and more efficient application equipment and guidelines on the introduction of the respective regulatory framework:

Guidelines on Minimum Requirements for Agricultural Pesticide Application Equipment

Volume one: Portable (Operator-Carried)
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Volume Two: Vehicle-Mounted and Trailed Sprayers
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Volume Three: Portable (Operator-Carried) Foggers
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Guidelines on Standards for Agricultural Pesticide Application Equipment and Related Test Procedures

Volume One: Portable (Operator-Carried) Sprayers
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Volume Two: Vehicle-Mounted and Trailed Sprayers
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Guidelines on Procedures for the Registration Certification and Testing of New Pesticide Application Equipment
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Guidelines on the Organization of Schemes for Testing and Certification of Agricultural Pesticides Sprayers in Use
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Guidelines on Organization and Operation of Training Schemes and Certification Procedures for Operators of Pesticide Application Equipment
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Guidelines on Good Practice for Ground Application of Pesticides
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Guidelines on Good Practice for Aerial Application of Pesticides
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A report of field survey carried out in West Africa in 1997/98 showed a number of serious problems with the safety of pesticide application and the related equipment.

This programme and particularly the equipment standards are understood as complement to the FAO Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides and in support of the programme on Safe Management of Pesticides. The main objective of modern sustainable pest management is to reduce the reliance on synthetic pesticides and enhance biosystems that allow a balance between beneficial fauna and flora and pests. This concept, described as integrated pest management (IPM) requires, as well, safer, more directed and less wasteful techniques for the application of pesticides or other pest control agents. These techniques reduce the undesired impact of pesticides on non-target areas or organisms like beneficial insects which are fundamental for allowing pest management with less or eventually without synthetic pesticides.