Fungicides ban could set back Irish wheat growing
This could be one of the consequences of proposals to amend the EU’s pesticide regulations, according to Brendan Barnes, director of APHA, which represents manufacturers and distributors of plant protection products in Ireland.
He said triazoles have enabled Irish farmers produce high winter wheat yields since the early 1980s.
European lawmakers are prepared to forego a 30% loss of yields because they believe use of the fungicides is too hazardous for humans and wildlife. But banning them would leave Irish grain growers with no option but to give up growing winter wheat, warned Barnes.
The European Commission has been working on sustainable use of plant protection products since 1992, and the proposals now on the table would also hit potato-growing in Ireland hard, according to Barnes. He believes potato growing may end here unless proposals to ban mancozeb, one of the main potato blight fungicides, are dropped.
nThe EU’s crop protection plans closely follow its decisions on veterinary products which resulted in intramammaries becoming prescription-only medicines (POM) last year.
However, the consequences have not been as severe as feared for livestock farmers, although some are incurring prescription charges by veterinary surgeons.
However, farmers’ co-ops have lost out, with veterinary practices now believed to be selling more intramammaries than co-ops, for which they were previously an important part of their turnover.
One of the main impacts for manufacturers of veterinary products has been a clampdown on advertising of POM products, making marketing more difficult.
