News Crop protection
Application of glyphosate further stripped down
On Friday 19 April, Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) informed the House of Representatives about motions regarding crop protection. These motions include glyphosate, diquat and neonicotinoids. The answers support the earlier 'Future vision for crop protection 2030'.
Glyphosate is arguably the hottest topic in the crop protection industry right now. In this Letter to Parliament the minister informed the House of Representatives in response to a motion submitted by Tjeerd de Groot (D66). This motion was about limiting the use of glyphosate.
Fewer applications
The spraying of permanent grassland, a 'pre-harvest spraying' and the annual application of the weed remedy (calendar spraying) are listed as applications that can be eliminated. Glyphosate should only be used within an integrated approach. Minister Schouten endorses dropping the applications. She sees chemical crop protection as a last resort.
European member states are currently re-evaluating all products containing glyphosate (about 50 products). The Board for the Authorization of Plant Protection Products and Biocides (Ctgb) is the rapporteur for the European Union and expects to have completed the studies by the end of 2019. Speeding up decision-making, which the House would like to see, is not possible, according to the minister.
Transition Period
The implementation program for the 'Future vision for crop protection 2030' must provide clarity about a future in which glyphosate can be used less or not. Mechanical or ecological weed control must offer the alternative. The minister wants to make agreements for a transitional period. Consultations are also being held with initiatives announced, for example, by FrieslandCampina and Natuurmonumenten. They already want to reduce or stop glyphosate use.
Last year, Nature Network Brabant known that glyphosate may no longer be used on leased land in this province. The municipality of Den Bosch also came into the news with similar measures. The municipality wants to discourage tenants of municipal land from using the substance. The local parties demanded that the municipality also do something against the sale of glyphosate to private individuals, but the city council sees no point in that.
Answers to other resources
The minister also sees mechanical as the answer when the drugs diquat and thiram disappear. Research by Wageningen Economic Research (WUR) shows that mechanical and thermal control (burning) has a limited negative effect on soil life. However, the influence on the insects is highly variable. Mechanical control is only destructive for breeding field birds.
The letter to parliament also extensively considers questions from Helma Lodders (VVd) about raising MRLs for 8 active substances, including the neonicotinoid clothianidin. Despite the fact that this substance is completely banned in the European Union, treated product from outside the Netherlands may be treated. The minister says he is not responsible for the application in other countries. This also applies to an exemption for neonicotinoids-treated seed (Cruiser SB). She considers it insurmountable that this creates unfair competition.
Niels van der Boom
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