News Sugar beets
Belgium grants neonics exemption for beet cultivation
Sugar beet growers in Belgium are allowed to use coated beet seed with Cruiser or Poncho Beta in 2019. The drugs contain the neonicotinoids: thiamethoxam, beta-cyfluthrin and clothianidin. Seed for carrots and lettuce will also receive an exemption for 1 season.
Despite a total ban on neonicotinoids, European legislation makes it possible to add exceptions to the rule. This is only possible under special circumstances and only with limited and controlled use. Since sugar beets are not a flowering crop, its use is considered safe for insects.
7 Member States
The Belgian FPS Public Health came with the news on Monday 3 December Outside† It thus joins a list of European member states that have granted an exemption. These include Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Belgium has already abstained from mood on the European ban, because it wanted an exception for sugar beets.
The use of neonicotinoids continues to be banned in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. That is also the case in the Netherlands. Suiker Unie also submitted a request for exemption, which is now being decided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. Earlier, Minister Carola Schouten was clear about maintaining a ban. She says there is no exemption. In Belgium, farmers are allowed to apply coated seed between 15 February and 14 June 2019.
Additional requirements
There are a number of exemptions iron connected. For example, only growers who use integrated crop protection are allowed to use coated seed. In addition, 2 years after sowing treated seed, flowering crops should not be grown on the plot. This also applies to green manures. Wheat and grains may be sown and potatoes (not as a follow-up crop) in the following 2 years. Flowering green manures may be sown, but they must be mowed before flowering.
From year 3 to year 5, further restrictions also apply. Potatoes, seed potatoes, maize and flax are allowed, but rapeseed, for example, is not.
Award too late?
The question now is to what extent a temporary exemption can provide help. There is not enough capacity available at the seed suppliers to coat all the necessary beet seed with neonicotinoids, which means that the entire beet area cannot be sown with this.
Niels van der Boom
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