The Cereals and Gamebirds Research Project: An independent viewpoint.

Abstract

Two methods of alleviating any undesirable side effects of the uses of pesticides on farmland on wild gamebirds and other forms of farmland wildlife are proposed from the viewpoint of an independent research unit; the farmer-funded "Cereals and Gamebirds Research Project". This being accomplished firstly, by providing farmers with advice on the spectrum of the insecticidal activity against beneficial non-target arthropods of the pesticides used on farmland and secondly, by experimenting with areas of the crop selectively sprayed at only certain times of the year, expressly for the benefit of farmland wildlife. Advantages and disadvantages of the approaches undertaken by the Project in terms of scale and species studied are discussed.