A return to keeping records of pesticide use on P.E.I. shows insecticide use has increased but the amount of pesticides used on the Island has declined, roughly matching a decline in hectares under cultivation.

Provincial records show more than 718,410 kilograms of pesticides were sold on P.E.I. in 2006. That's 11.8 per cent less than was purchased in 2002, while hectares under cultivation dropped 10.8 per cent.

Provincial records show more than 718,000 kilograms of pesticides were sold on P.E.I
(CBC)

The province stopped recording that information in 2003 when it thought the federal government was going to start doing the same work, but that hasn't happened so the province started collected the data again last year.

The kinds of pesticide being applied have changed dramatically, the report said.

The sale of insecticides was up almost 40 per cent while the sale of herbicides and fungicides declined since the last time numbers were collected.

"We've had a resurgence in a number of different pests in the province, not just in the province, in North America-wide," Rachel Cheverie, a pest management specialist with the province, told CBC News Monday.

"We've had a resurgence in the number of wireworms. We're seeing a resurgence of a lot of different soil-borne insects like cabbage root maggot, many of the root weevils, and those have been sort of going up in numbers."

Agricultural pesticides purchased
	2006 (kg)	2002 (kg)	% change
Herbicides	64,549	111,237	-42.0
Insecticides	48,032	35,044	37.1
Fungicides	605,829	667,862	-9.3
Total	718,410	814,103	-11.8

The sales report said the increased use of insecticides may also be linked to controlling corn borer and aphids on potatoes.  

Cheverie said it's good to track the sales of pesticides over time so trends can be detected. In addition to the amount of pesticides, Cheverie would also like the province to start measuring the level of risk associated with them.

Cheverie said that can't be done now because the information collected doesn't break down the products by each chemical's name or what crop it's used on.