Four-fifths of vegetable crops and two-thirds of commonly affected pests and diseases lack registered pesticides—so who will safeguard the safety of our “vegetable basket”?

Release Date:

2018-10-07

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of vegetables. Since the Ministry of Agriculture launched the “Vegetable Basket” project in the 1980s, both the area under vegetable cultivation and per-unit yields have steadily increased, and vegetables have now surpassed grain crops to become the country’s leading agricultural product. Due to their short growth cycles, frequent pest and disease outbreaks, and high frequency of pesticide applications, pesticide residues in vegetables have long been a major concern for consumers. The rational use of pesticides is therefore a crucial measure for ensuring the safe production of vegetables. Consequently, it is necessary to conduct surveys and research on the current state of vegetable production and the registration status of pesticides in China, as this will provide valuable guidance for the prudent application of pesticides in the sector. Pests and diseases cause approximately… in losses to vegetable crops.

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of vegetables. Since the Ministry of Agriculture launched the “Vegetable Basket” program in the 1980s, both the area under vegetable cultivation and yields have steadily increased, and vegetables have now surpassed grain crops to become the country’s leading agricultural product. Due to their short growth cycles, frequent pest and disease outbreaks, and high frequency of pesticide applications, pesticide residues in vegetables have long been a major concern for consumers. The judicious use of pesticides is a critical measure for ensuring the safe production of vegetables. Therefore, it is essential to conduct surveys and research on the current state of vegetable production and the registration status of pesticides in China, as this will provide valuable guidance for the rational application of pesticides in the sector.

Pests and diseases cause approximately 20% to 30% of losses in vegetable production.

The occurrence of plant diseases and pests is influenced by factors such as crop growth conditions and the length of the growing season. In vegetable production, cultivation practices like continuous cropping and repeated planting of the same crop create favorable conditions for disease and pest outbreaks, resulting in vegetables in China ranking among the top crops in terms of both the diversity of pathogens and the severity of their damage. According to the “Chinese Crops Diseases and Pests” report, China’s vegetable crops are affected by 108 major diseases, including fungal, bacterial, viral diseases, and root-knot nematode disease.

Fungal diseases include early (or late) blight, late blight, anthracnose, gray mold, downy mildew, leaf mold, verticillium wilt, damping-off, seedling blight, vine decline, leaf spot, black spot, purple spot, brown spot, bacterial angular leaf spot, powdery mildew, white mold, sclerotinia rot, and root (stem) rot, among others. Bacterial diseases comprise bacterial wilt, ring rot, and soft rot, while viral diseases include mosaic, streak, and fern‑leaf diseases. The most serious afflictions are anthracnose, root rot, and mosaic disease.

The major pests affecting vegetable production include the cotton bollworm, aphids, diamondback moth, beet armyworm, tobacco cutworm, tobacco budworm, leafminers, leafhoppers, whiteflies, silverleaf whiteflies, mites (such as tea yellow mites and spider mites), the twenty-eight-spotted lady beetle, thrips, red spiders, and underground pests like grubs and root maggots. Among these, leafminers, mites, aphids, and silverleaf whiteflies are particularly severe. Due to the lack of scientifically sound guidance on pesticide application for managing vegetable pests and diseases, some pests and pathogens have developed resistance, causing significant damage to vegetable production. According to statistics, pest and disease losses account for approximately 20%–30% of vegetable yields, with severe outbreaks sometimes exceeding 50%.

An Overview of Pesticide Registration for Vegetables in China

- Classified by pesticide category

Rational use of pesticides is a crucial safeguard for increasing vegetable yields and incomes. According to data from the Pesticide Information Network (as of April 2018), there are currently 696 registered pesticides for use on vegetables, including 263 single‑ingredient formulations and 433 formulated mixtures. By target pest or disease, these can be broadly categorized into four major groups: insecticides, fungicides, nematicides, and herbicides, with plant growth regulators; acaricides and nematicides account for a relatively small proportion.

1) Pesticide

Insecticides are the fastest-growing, most widely used, and most diverse category of pesticides. A total of 257 insecticides are registered for use on vegetables, including 95 single‑ingredient formulations and 162 mixtures. Based on their chemical origins, they can be classified into inorganic, organic, and biological insecticides. Although chemical pesticides continue to hold a dominant position in the control of vegetable pests and diseases, the global promotion of biopesticides has become an emerging trend.

Taking highly toxic pesticides as an example, since the promulgation and implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Pesticides, the share of such products has plummeted from roughly 60% to about 3% today. Currently, carbamate and organophosphate pesticides—such as aldicarb, carbofuran, dimethoate, and chlorpyrifos—that exhibit strong neurotoxicity and high acute toxicity have largely been banned for use on vegetables. Meanwhile, neonicotinoid insecticides represented by imidacloprid, acetamiprid, and thiamethoxam, along with biopesticides like abamectin, emamectin benzoate, Bacillus thuringiensis, and matrine, are increasingly becoming the dominant categories in the market and are widely registered for application across a variety of vegetable crops (see Table 1). At the same time, traditional pyrethroid pesticides such as cypermethrin and lambda‑cyhalothrin are being gradually replaced by next‑generation compounds—like esfenvalerate and bifenthrin—that offer superior insecticidal activity, owing to the propensity of pests to develop resistance to the former.

2) Fungicide

Fungicides exert lethal or inhibitory effects on fungi, bacteria, or viruses within plants. Pathogenic microorganisms, characterized by a broad host range, rapid reproduction, and a propensity for genetic variation, are particularly prone to developing resistance. Consequently, fungicides comprise the largest category of agricultural chemicals. Surveys indicate that 125 single‑component formulations and 236 formulated mixtures are registered for use on vegetables. The major classes of fungicides include benzimidazoles, triazoles, methoxyacrylates, and arylamides; among these, active ingredients such as dimethomorph, difenoconazole, mancozeb, propineb, chlorothalonil, and copper hydroxide are the primary agents for controlling key diseases (see Table 2). Prolonged reliance on chemical pesticides has led to increased pathogen resistance, necessitating higher application rates and raising concerns about health risks associated with pesticide residues. As a result, environmentally friendly biofungicides are gaining increasing attention as alternative products. Examples include agricultural antibiotic‑based biofungicides like jinggangmycin and kasugamycin, as well as microbial agents such as Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus, which have been registered for the control of diseases—including bacterial wilt, verticillium wilt, leaf mold, gray mold, angular leaf spot, and powdery mildew—on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, and other vegetable crops.

3) Herbicide

Currently, herbicides account for approximately 42% of the global pesticide market, and their use in China has been steadily increasing year by year. However, compared with cereal crops such as corn, rice, and wheat, herbicide application in vegetable fields remains minimal, representing only about 2%. At present, 44 herbicides are registered for use on vegetables, including 20 single‑ingredient products and 24 formulated mixtures (see Table 3). Garlic and potatoes have the highest number of registered herbicides: 19 active ingredients comprising 72 products for garlic and 20 active ingredients comprising 61 products for potatoes. The main registered herbicides include pendimethalin, acetochlor, flumetsulam, and prometryn. Compared with earlier‑developed herbicides, newly developed formulations not only reduce the amount of chemical applied but also enhance control efficacy. For example, the novel sulfonylurea herbicide chlorimuron‑ethyl exhibits high activity, requires low application rates, offers a broad weed‑control spectrum, demonstrates strong selectivity, and is safe for target crops. In addition to controlling weeds in cereal crops such as corn, rice, and wheat, it has recently been registered for effective use in tomato fields, at application rates as low as 40–90 g/ha. ² As modern agriculture continues to advance, numerous bioherbicides are being developed; currently, more than 20 bioherbicide products—derived from fungi, bacteria, and natural compounds—have been registered worldwide.

4) Plant growth regulator

Plant growth regulators, also known as exogenous plant hormones, are primarily used to modulate plant growth and development. In vegetable production, their judicious application can promote growth, enhance fruit set, extend shelf life, improve quality, and increase yields. However, since not all vegetables require plant growth regulators, their usage is far less extensive than that of insecticides and fungicides. Currently, China has registered only 30 plant growth regulators for use on vegetables, based on active ingredients—20 single‑component products and 10 formulated mixtures (see Table 4). Ethephon, naphthaleneacetic acid, gibberellic acid, and sodium nitrophenolate are among the most widely used, with registrations spanning not only vegetables but also grain and oilseed crops and fruits. Tomatoes and cucumbers are the vegetable crops with the highest number of registered plant growth regulator applications. Taking tomatoes as an example, a total of 15 plant growth regulators have been registered, accounting for 114 distinct product formulations. Sodium nitrophenolate and 4‑chlorophenoxyacetic acid are mainly employed to regulate tomato growth, ensure flower and fruit retention, and boost yield, while 1‑methylcyclopropene is primarily used for postharvest preservation, and ethephon is applied to accelerate ripening. From the perspective of agricultural modernization and standardized production, plant growth regulators still hold substantial potential for further development.

Classified by crop category

The top three vegetable categories in terms of registered pesticide applications are cucurbit vegetables, solanaceous vegetables, and brassica vegetables, with 291, 249, and 231 active ingredients, respectively. Among these, fungicides account for the largest share of registrations in both cucurbit and solanaceous vegetables, representing 81.79% and 75.90% of all registered products, respectively. In contrast, insecticides dominate the registration profile for brassica vegetables, making up 93.94% of all registered pesticides. By contrast, bean vegetables, stem vegetables, aquatic vegetables, sprout vegetables, and other vegetable categories exhibit far fewer registered products; specifically, stem vegetables and aquatic vegetables have only 8 and 10 registered products, respectively, while sprout vegetables and other vegetable categories have no registered products at all (see Table 5).

Among vegetable categories with a large number of pesticide registrations, the imbalance in registration across specific varieties is particularly pronounced. For cucurbit vegetables, as many as 280 pesticides are registered for use on cucumbers, covering 2,502 products from various manufacturers, whereas fewer than 10 pesticides are registered for zucchini, winter melon, pumpkin, bitter gourd, and other cucurbit crops, resulting in limited options for pest and disease management. For brassica vegetables, 224 pesticides are registered for cabbage, encompassing 2,578 products. In contrast, only 10 pesticides—representing 42 products—are registered for cauliflower, and for Chinese flowering cabbage, only one manufacturer’s plant growth regulator, brassinolide, has obtained registration. Among leafy vegetables, the primary registered products are for napa cabbage and pak choi, with 37 pesticides and 113 products for the former and 25 pesticides and 93 products for the latter. By comparison, only one herbicide—propanil—is registered for lettuce, and for water spinach, only one manufacturer’s insecticide—hydramethylnon—has been approved.

Inconsistent pesticide registration leads to a shortage of approved products for minor vegetable crops.

- Pesticide registration is uneven. At present, registered pesticides for vegetable crops are predominantly concentrated on major varieties such as cabbage, tomato, potato, pepper, and cucumber, with a large number of products and significant product homogenization. Meanwhile, nationwide, four-fifths of vegetable crops and two-thirds of commonly occurring pests and diseases still lack approved, registered pesticides. In actual production, driven by immediate pest‑and‑disease‑control needs, growers often rely on pesticide recommendations for similar crops or for the same pests and diseases, without conducting the requisite trials and evaluations. Lacking scientifically sound application guidelines, they depend solely on their own experience, leading to improper pesticide use and posing substantial risks to the quality and safety of minor vegetable varieties.

- Pest and disease resistance poses new challenges for pest and disease management. Although pesticides worldwide have undergone significant changes in terms of efficacy, application rates, and safety, pest and disease resistance continues to intensify, posing new challenges for their management. Due to the lack of effective agents against certain major pests and diseases, many highly toxic, long‑residual formulations still command a substantial market share. For example, although registered products are available for controlling the bean pod borer in legume vegetables, their field performance is poor; meanwhile, the highly toxic pesticide phorate—registered for use on rice—is illegally applied to manage this pest, leading to the “toxic yardlong bean” incident.

- The structure of pesticide varieties is unreasonable. At present, traditional pesticides still account for a disproportionately large share of registered products, while safe and highly effective new‑generation pesticides remain scarce. According to an analysis of pesticide production and use conducted by the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, biopesticides currently comprise only about 8% of the total pesticide market. Taking solanaceous vegetables as an example, there are 127 registered pesticides, including 95 chemical pesticides, 30 biopesticides, and 2 other types; chemical pesticides continue to dominate, with biopesticides remaining underrepresented. This situation is partly attributable to the relatively backward state of China’s biopesticide industry—both in terms of product development and in supporting technologies such as synergistic formulations, suitable dosage forms, and functional adjuvants—which falls short of meeting the demands of agricultural production.

Recommendations and Prospects

“Hainan toxic yardlong beans” and “toxic ginger” have sounded an alarm about the current state of pesticide registration in China. All sectors of society are calling for the rational use of pesticides; however, the registration of specialized pesticides tailored to minor‑crop vegetables continues to lag behind the needs of agricultural production. With no registered products available, it is impossible to talk about sound pesticide management. Pesticide manufacturers face high R&D costs and low profit margins, while the expensive registration trials and lengthy approval processes severely dampen their enthusiasm. Therefore, we recommend strengthening the government’s leading role by implementing differentiated registration‑management policies, establishing dedicated subsidies, appropriately reducing or waiving registration fees and documentation requirements, and shortening review timelines. Only when pesticide registration is effectively carried out can we better standardize the use of agrochemicals and prevent the overuse of pesticides.

In response to the growing challenges of pest resistance and pesticide residues, we should seize the opportunity presented by pesticide reduction to accelerate the development and promotion of new, broad-spectrum, highly effective, low‑toxicity, low‑residue pesticides that are less likely to induce resistance, as well as novel formulations. Biopesticides—characterized by high selectivity, environmental friendliness, and a reduced likelihood of resistance—have become a key priority in China’s pesticide research agenda; microbial pesticides, plant‑derived pesticides, antibiotics, and insect growth regulators are all classified as biopesticides. In 2017, among the 17 newly registered pesticides in China, 10 were bio‑based, accounting for 59% of all new registrations—a first-time surpassing of the number of new chemical pesticides. In addition to intensifying R&D on green, environmentally friendly pesticides, it is essential to further encourage the registration of biopesticides for use on vegetables and to establish regulatory measures that promote the synergistic application of microbial and conventional chemical pesticides. Since 2014, China has vigorously implemented demonstration subsidy programs for low‑toxicity, low‑residue pesticides. Practical experience has shown that such subsidy policies are an effective means of expanding the adoption of low‑toxicity biopesticides, helping to guide farmers toward the rational use of pesticides and thereby controlling pesticide residues at the source. In recent years, an increasing number of microbial pesticides have been introduced to the market and put into practical use.

Authors: Chen Yan, Zheng Jinjin, et al. Public Monitoring Center for Agricultural Products, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences

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