THE Co-op, Britain's biggest farmer, is banning more than 20 pesticides used for food production worldwide.

It has also called on the government to support farmers converting to organic production to the tune of £80m a year for the next ten years.

The list of pesticides it is to ban include hormone disrupters and organophosphates, because of growing consumer concern about their impact on human health and the environment - and it believes the government, through the new Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, must follow its lead.

The Co-op wants government to apply the "precautionary principle" to both new and existing pesticides. That means a ban on any pesticide where there is doubt about its safety, even if a hazard cannot be scientifically proved.

The Co-op has consulted Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, and Friends of the Earth, and drawn up a plan to raise consumer confidence through more sustainable production.

The plan includes a worldwide ban on more than 20 suspect chemical pesticides, six of which are still permitted in the UK, plus restrictions on using more than 30 chemicals, where the Co-op would ask growers to use more benign alternatives.

Also included are: greater transparency by publication of the Co-op's pesticide testing results on the internet; support for an action plan, to be launched later this month by supporters of the Organic Food and Farming Targets Bill, to kick start organic farming in the UK, and labelling trials on conventionally grown produce.

An inquiry by the Co-op described flaws in the approval process for the regulation of pesticides. New ones could enter the market without manufacturers having to prove a need, or that the new ones were better or safer for human health and the environment than what was already available. The process for removing older, more harmful chemicals was slow and cumbersome and there was no fast track system to ensure potentially safer products, approved for use in other countries, were considered for approval for UK use.

The Co-op found the majority of consumers were particularly suspicious of the health effects of pesticides and wanted their use reduced.

The inquiry also found that consumers believed organic farming had much to teach the rest of the industry about how to reduce chemical residues; 89pc saw organic farming as better for the environment, 74pc believed it was safer for their family and 57pc would prefer to buy UK organic food.

But the Co-op says British organic producers are at a massive disadvantage to their continental counterparts who receive large subsidies, resulting in 75pc of the organic produce sold in the UK being imported.

To try to turn that round, the Co-op is supporting the Organic Food and Farming Targets Bill, which wants 30pc of UK land use and 20pc of UK consumption to be organic by 2010.

Experts supporting the Co-op's inquiry estimate the government will have to support organic farming with £80m a year for the next 10 years. Currently the government is offering £20m a year up to 2006 and the Co-op says this is far too little.