2000-2001 Pesticide Market Estimates: Usage (Page 2)

3.4  Amount of Pesticides Used in the U.S.: Conventional

Table 3.4 shows that conventional pesticide amount used in 2000 and 2001 totaled 926 and 888 million pounds of active ingredient, respectively. This category of pesticide use was second highest among all pesticide groups in the U.S. after chlorine/hypochlorites. Table 3.4 shows the breakout of this use by pesticide type and market sector. Pesticide types in this group include herbicides, plant growth regulators, insecticides, miticides, fungicides, nematicides, fumigants, and others.¹ The amount used in the agricultural sector accounted for the majority of the total amount used in both years, with the two non-agricultural sectors (industry/commercial/ government and home & garden) cumulatively accounting for less than 25% of the total use in each year (see Table 3.4). The amount used in the agriculture sector accounted for the majority of the total amount used by pesticide type in both years as well Â- more than 60% of the total amount used of each type, except for fungicides in 2000 (59%) and 2001 (58%). Figure 3.3 graphs the distribution of use by pesticide type and sector. The estimated use levels rely on the estimated amount used and changes in amount used of conventional pesticides by sector and type derived from public and proprietary EPA databases.

3.5  Share of U.S. Amount of Conventional Pesticide Active Ingredient Used in the Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Market Sectors

Table 3.5 shows the agricultural and non-agricultural market share of total conventional pesticides consumed in 2000 and 2001. The agricultural sector accounts for more than 75% of the total amount of conventional pesticides used in both years. See Table 5.9 in the Historical Data section of this report for data covering the years 1964 through 2001.

3.6  Most Commonly Used Conventional Pesticide Active Ingredients in the U.S. Agricultural Market Sector

Table 3.6 shows the 25 most commonly used conventional pesticide active ingredients in the agricultural sector in 2001 and selected earlier years. Glyphosate was the most used active ingredient in 2001 (between 85 million and 90 million pounds), displacing atrazine, which had been the most used active ingredient in agriculture for a number of years. Fifteen of the top 25 active ingredients used are herbicides; three are fungicides; two are insecticides; four are fumigants; and one is a plant growth regulator. The rankings rely on the estimated pounds of conventional pesticides used in the agricultural sector, taken from public and proprietary EPA databases.