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VEGETABLE INDUSTRY UPBEAT
ABOUT COPING WITH EU
PESTICIDE REVIEW
By Adrian Tatum—The Vegetable Farmer April 2009
However the actual extent of the loss is still to be decided with regards to some products. According to the Pesticide Safety Directorate (PSD) no ban will come into force for another 18 months, and even then, pesticides that are already licensed will be able to run down the lifetime of their license (licenses are usually granted for up to 10 years).
After the license expires, any remaining stocks of the pesticide can be sold for a further six months, and then be used for a further 12 months. There are also derogations on certain chemicals covered by the ban, which means that it will be possible to carry on using them for a certain period of time if no alternative substances to control pests and diseases are available.
A PSD spokesman at Defra told The Vegetable Farmer that there have been questions about whether certain crops would see a reduction in yields. To use carrots as an example, Defra says there are three substances which are normally used on carrots which would be lost under the new regulations, but two of them are likely to be eligible for continued use under the derogation.
Meanwhile, the NFU predicts that growers will start to feel the real affect of the loss around 2013 with some of the major pesticides being phased out by 2015.
“A full assessment will determine where the gaps will be,” says Philip Hudson, chief horticultural advisor at the NFU. “Once this has been achieved we will then need to , as an industry, work out what alternatives are available, what can be achieved with the current chemistry and genetic information we have, and what can be done to safeguard the future. Its’ going to have to be about going back to basics with this.”
In the long-term, the industry is confident they can combat some pest and diseases through breeding, but some things in the vegetable sector will have to change. “The supermarkets will almost certainly have to reduce their demand in terms of the appearance of vegetable crops,” says Nick Bolton of Nickerson-Zwaan. “I think very soon they will have to start accepting slightly imperfect product,” he adds.
Dr Roy Kennedy, of Warwick HRI, who was involved in co-writing The Consequences of the Cut Off Criteria For Pesticides: Alternative Methods of Cultivation, (http:/www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/biopesticides/publications/warwick_ipm_for_eu_parliament_-_numbered.doc) which was a briefing note for the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament, says the future will be challenging for growers.
“My feeling is that we will lose most herbicides, which puts into question the economics of growing some of the major crops such as carrots and onions.” According to Dr Kennedy, any crops that are easily affected by weeds will be even more at risk without herbicides to control them.
Also the loss of fungicides will make it very difficult to grow some vegetable crops in certain parts of the country. “This may even make some growers question whether it is worthwhile growing them at all,” says Kennedy. In Scotland, for example, vegetables are more susceptible towards leaf spot
Also growers will have to think carefully about what they grow their crops next to.
Oilseed rape for instance is a huge carrier of pests and diseases that can be easily transferred from field to field. “As supply is these days concentrated into fewer hands, it brings into question how we might get some domestic crops on the supermarket shelves,” says Kennedy.
He also agrees that the appearance of crops on the supermarket shelves will change. “it is going to be very difficult in the future to keep vegetable crops blemish free. In all this we really need to be looking towards genetics for us to stand any chance of combating this problem we have.”
Dr Kennedy thinks getting the balance between breeding crops so that they are more resistant to pest and diseases, having more genetic information to use, making better use of IPM and getting the right cultivars, will all be fundamental to growers’ future armory.
“The future is going to be a challenge. What you have to ask in all this is; who will help the grower? Price returns are at a low for most growers and they simply don’t have the extra money to pour into research or to change their business to adapt to these changes,” says Kennedy. “We don't want problems with our domestic supply so that we fall into the mercy of a global and free market,” he adds.
According to Bruce McKenzie of Syngenta Crop Protection, the chemical store of twenty years ago would have one or two names still familiar today, but the vast majority have been superseded by more effective replacements that have undergone today’s rigorous environmental and efficacy testing to gain their approval. Many of the older products are set to fall by the wayside over the next few years as a result of natural wastage and the EU Pesticide Review. Indeed the pace of change may increase over the coming years, but with more exciting new products on the horizon the old guard was changing anyway, says McKenzie. “Growers want new products that are more effective in driving higher yields of better quality crops, with less farm and in store wastage, “ he says. “Retailers, regulators and consumers are looking for products that meet these requirements.
“It will be increasingly costly and difficult to register new products, but it is certainly not impossible and there will be new solutions for growers going forward. “Syngenta is spending over $1 billion a year globally on R&D on many crop sectors including vegetables and fruit, and has plans to introduce 41 new products over the next five years. “We will continue to work closely with the specialist crop sector to find new solutions that will secure the industry’s future productivity,” adds McKenzie.
John Birkenshaw of the British Carrot Growers Association remains upbeat about the situation. “I think alternatives will be developed fairly rapidly as it presents a huge opportunity in the market place, but the big question is how quickly can this be done?”
He says carrot growers are very adaptable and will cope with what many have described as a ‘major crisis’. “Growers will find ways to keep costs down, yields up and maintain a 12 month supply,” he says.
Andy Richardson of the Allium and Brassica Centre told the Vegetable Farmer: “it is a difficult subject with regard to the EDR fungicides, as we cannot be certain what will stay, what will go and what will be able to get a derogation for.”
He says that triazoles in particular look to be ‘somewhat of a challenge’ with regard to control of the main leaf spot diseases in brassicas and rust/cladosporium in leeks. The loss of Mancozeb, a constituent of the main downy mildew fungicides (Invader/Valbon/Dithane) in onions will undoubtedly be a challenge, according to Andy Richardson. “However despite what I’ve said, I think it is important to remain optimistic; all involved in horticulture are a pretty resourceful bunch,” he adds.
“I believe the key to disease control in the future will be better targeting of sprays through forecasting, better application techniques (sprayers/nozzles) and genetic resistance or at least reduced susceptibility, although we already have commercially available clubroot resistant brassicas and downy mildew resistant onion varieties.”
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