In general, vegetable production requires more plant protection products per hectare. Because of their cultivation intensity, vegetables suffer from many biological stresses including pests, diseases and weeds. Because of the diversity within and between plant families, their pest loads are far more varied and complex compared to field crops. Considerably fewer resources have been directed at improving their production and pest and disease management options, compared to field crops such as rice, wheat and maize . Since vegetables are high value commodities with high “cosmetic” standards, the main method for controlling pathogens, pests, and weeds has been the use of pesticides. Vegetables are often consumed in fresh form, so pesticide residue and biological contamination in them is a serious issue. Vegetables ac-count for a significant share of the global pesticide market. About 20% of the world’s annual pesticides expenditures  are spent for growing vegetables . Almost 25 kg/ha of active pesticide substances are used on average in vegetable production in the European Union .

Vegetable production accounts for less than 1% of the United States crop area, but 14% of its total pesticide use ebb and flow trays. Insecticides are regularly applied to control a complex of insect pests that cause damage by feeding directly on the plant or by transmitting pathogens, particularly viruses. Despite pesticide use, insects, pathogens, and weeds continue to cause a heavy toll on world vegetable production. Preharvest losses are globally estimated as 15% for in-sect pests, 13% for damage by pathogens, and about 12% for weeds . Studies on pesticide levels in vegetables, in some developing and developed countries, found that the pesticide residues sometimes exceeded tolerance limits . For example, in India a survey of pesticide residues in vegetable crops taken at the farm gate and in markets from 1999 to 2003 confirmed that of the 3,043 samples, two-thirds were found to have pesticide residues and 9% contained residues above the maximum residue levels. The increase of residues in vegetables is a major concern to consumers and there are some concerns about the ability of small growers to meet exacting quality and safety standards of the commercial sector.

The problem of residues is not restricted to developing countries. In Europe, a recent survey of pesticide residues in vegetable and fruit crops taken by the EU coordinate pesticide monitoring programme in 2008, carried out in 27 EU member states and two EFTA states , and analysing 78 pesticides, confirmed that 21.2% of the samples have measurable residues and from the 58,784 of samples analised, 3.7% exceeded the MRLs . In USA, about 35% of the food purchase by American consumers, have detectable levels of pesticide residues, and 1% to 3% of these foods have pesticide residue that are above the MRLs. Residue levels may be higher because the analytical methods now employed in the US detect only about one-third of the more than 800 pesticides in use on crops . Pesticide residues are often attributed to the failure of growers to restrain application before harvesting and the use of prohibited pesticides. Residues affect the health of growers and consumers and contaminate the environment Also the presence of pesticide residues may restrict trade opportunities. In South Asia,4×8 flood tray pest and disease vectors of eggplant, tomato and legumes, notably eggplant fruit and shoot borer, cotton bollworm, root knot nematode, white fly, and legume pod-borer have been identified as the major targets of pesticide use and abuse with frequent and excessive applications of pesticide.

However, eggplant fruit and shoot borer pheromone traps and net houses developed by AVRDC  have helped reduce pesticide application significantly.The use of improved vegetable cultivars with resistance or tolerance to dis-eases and pests can also contribute to the reduction of pesticide applications and pesticide residues . Genetically Modified Crops  are now widely used in a number of countries for the production of largescale agronomic crops, especially maize, soybean and canola . This is, however, not the case for vegetables crops where concerns and debates about the safety and the wider justification of genetic modification prevail in many countries . Of concern, is the lack of awareness about the role that conventional plant breeding plays in the production of new cultivars and the confusion that often prevails between conventional breeding and plants produced using gene transfer technologies. The changes outlined above are merely some of the factors that are impacting on current production practices for horticultural crops.