While the recent trade dispute between the United States and China has taken center stage in terms of its impact on agricultural trade, another disagreement — one that pits the E.U. against 16 of its trading partners — has received much less attention but also hinders free trade.

Pesticides are causing widespread damage to the tiny creatures that keep soils healthy and underpin all life on land, according to the first comprehensive review of the issue.

Agricultural pesticides leach far from their original sources into the world’s waterways, according to new research which finds pesticides exceed safe levels in 13,000km of rivers globally.

We must feed ourselves. To do that, we must have agricultural chemicals. Without them, the world population will starve,” says Norman Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for breeding high-yielding grains.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that between 20 and 40 percent of global crop production is lost to pests and diseases every year.

When is a tomato more than a tomato?

Nearly two dozen pesticides are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in the United States, researchers report November 4 in Cancer. Four of those, the study finds, are also linked to prostate cancer deaths.