Editing Pesticide (section)

==Amount used==
[[File:Pesticide Use By Region.svg|thumb|Pesticide use by region]]
Total pesticides use in agriculture in 2021 was 3.54 million tonnes of active ingredients (Mt), a 4 percent increase with respect to 2020, an 11 percent increase in a decade, and a doubling since 1990. Pesticides use per area of cropland in 2021 was 2.26&nbsp;kg per hectare (kg/ha), an increase of 4 percent with respect to 2020; use per value of agricultural production was 0.86&nbsp;kg per thousand [[international dollar]] (kg/1000 I$) (+2%); and use per person was 0.45&nbsp;kg per capita (kg/cap) (+3%). Between 1990 and 2021, these indicators increased by 85 percent, 3 percent, and 33 percent, respectively. Brazil was the world's largest user of pesticides in 2021, with 720 kt of pesticides applications for agricultural use, while the USA (457 kt) was the second-largest user.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Pesticides use and trade 1990–2021 |url=https://www.fao.org/3/cc6958en/cc6958en.pdf |access-date=January 15, 2024 |website=Food and agricultural organisation of the united nations}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite book |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en |title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023 |date=2023 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |isbn=978-92-5-138262-2 |location=Rome, Italy |language=en |doi=10.4060/cc8166en |access-date=2023-12-13 |via=FAODocuments}}</ref>

Applications per cropland area in 2021 varied widely, from 10.9&nbsp;kg/[[hectare]] in Brazil to 0.8&nbsp;kg/ha in the Russian Federation. The level in Brazil was about twice as high as in Argentina (5.6&nbsp;kg/ha) and Indonesia (5.3&nbsp;kg/ha).<ref name=":16" /> Insecticide use in the US has declined by more than half since 1980 (0.6%/yr), mostly due to the near phase-out of [[organophosphate]]s. In corn fields, the decline was even steeper, due to the switchover to [[transgenic]] [[Bt corn]].<ref name=s730>{{cite journal |title=Infographic: Pesticide Planet |journal=Science |volume=341 |issue=6147 |pages=730–1 |date=August 2013 |bibcode=2013Sci...341..730. |pmid=23950524 |doi=10.1126/science.341.6147.730}}</ref>