The Danish Ministry of the Environment is banning 25 crop protection products in one fell swoop. This has a huge impact on potato cultivation, but sugar beets, grains, and onions are also affected. The direct cause is the presence of PFAS in these products. The Danish government decided not to wait for European legislation but will ban their use in the country by 2026.
The decision will have disastrous consequences for the Danish agricultural sector, according to the national advocacy group Landbrug & Fødevarer and agricultural businesses. The Ministry of the Environment will abolish no fewer than 23 products by 2026. Shortly after this news report, two more products followed, and they are likely not the last. The drastic decision will affect most arable crops, particularly potatoes, sugar beets, grains, and onions.
PFAS ban
The direct reason for the decision is the national PFAS ban that the Danish parliament approved in mid-June. The European Union has been working on such a ban for some time, but the Danes find it far too long. Everything containing PFAS, from raincoats to crop protection products, will be banned next year. The government is allocating the equivalent of €54 million for this, because Danish factories are no longer allowed to use poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Another €28 million is being reserved for soil and groundwater remediation. Incidentally, France is also working on a nationwide ban.
Seven active substances are affected by the ban, meaning a total of 25 products will no longer be applicable in 2026 and 2027. The Danish agricultural sector faces the greatest challenge with fungicides, where very few products were already available and alternatives were non-existent.
These active substances are banned in Denmark:
This concerns fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides that will soon be banned from use. However, there is a fifteen-month expiration period. The ministry's goal is to improve soil and water quality.
Fatal consequences
The discontinuation of Fluazinam could be extremely detrimental to the country's potato sector, which encompasses 64.000 hectares. Landbrug & Fødevarer calls the decision fatal. The availability of fungicides is already severely limited due to resistance, which has increasingly emerged in recent years. Fusarium and powdery mildew will also become much more difficult to control.
In 2023, the Netherlands was hit by a large-scale outbreak of the Phytophthora clone EU-43, originating from Denmark. It was discovered there in 2018 and is resistant to active ingredients from the CAA group (including mandipropamid and benthavalicarb). This resulted in significantly reduced or complete ineffectiveness of products like Zorvec, Endavia, and Revus.
Resistance formation
This caused significant problems during the wet growing season of 2023, which resulted in high disease pressure. Despite high tuber infection, the 2024 growing season was better. Currently, there are six FRAC (Fungicide Resistance Action Committee) groups. With preventative substances, which growers can use, and two groups with curative substances. By alternating as much as possible and always spraying with two active ingredients from different groups, resistance development is prevented.