Irish Examiner view: Chemicals ban on insecticides linked to harming bees upheld

The collapse of pollinating insect populations in heavily farmed areas made this ruling unavoidable

The EU dismissed an appeal by chemical giant Bayer against a partial ban on use of substances on certain crops; the loss of these chemicals will impinge on food production but the destruction of pollinators essential to food production cannot continue.

As the world’s population edges towards 8bn, the challenge to produce enough food grows relentlessly and, as famines show, that challenge is not always met.

The tremendous innovation and industrialisation of food production is an inevitable response; many of those innovations are positive but some are not.