WASHINGTON — The Clinton Administration on Friday moved to limit the health and environmental effects of pesticides, announcing a major effort to reduce their use and promote "sustainable agricultural practices" that rely on nature's own forces to control pests.

The announcement comes at a time when health and environmental scientists are stepping up warnings of the dangers of pest-controlling chemicals and just four days before the National Academy of Sciences is to issue a report on the health effects of pesticides on children.

The statement, issued by three agencies responsible for food and environmental regulation, was intended to spotlight the Administration's commitment in advance of those disclosures.

In the statement, the Administration pledged to join forces to promote the development and use of safer pesticides through incentives and educational programs. It also said that federal agencies will work with farmers to help test and apply safer pest management methods, some of which are already in use.

Administration officials said that planning has been under way for several months and will continue until new regulations, legislative proposals and educational programs are produced. One Environmental Protection Agency official said that the program likely to emerge would focus new attention on organic crop production methods already widely followed in California.

The White House "is committed to reducing the risks to people and the environment that are associated with pesticides while ensuring the availability of cost-effective pest management tools for agriculture and other pesticides users," three agency heads said in a joint statement.

The statement was issued by Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, EPA Administrator Carol Browner and Food and Drug Administrator David A. Kessler, whose agencies often disagree on controversial pesticide issues.

"We've been working on this almost since day one," Browner told The Times. "But today's announcement is remarkable not only for its commitment to reduction but for the fact that we're working together in a way that frankly hasn't happened before at the federal level."

In addition to proposing changes in pesticide regulation and enforcement, the Administration is expected to rely heavily on voluntary programs to promote safer pesticides and "biological" methods, including the use of certain predatory animals, to control unwanted pests.