As part of the SASEV information days experts underlined pesticide residues and requisite best practices, along with other issues.
Augustí Soler, one of the presenters, focused on trends in pesticide control and their impact on the fruit export industry. Soler is the crop portfolio solutions manager for biologics and agronomic profiling in Bayer’s EMEA regional marketing organisation. He is responsible for addressing the company’s food safety issues, specifically those related to pesticide residues in Europe.
Increasingly, European consumers are demanding the use of fewer pesticides and insecticides in agricultural production.
Soler’s presentation, “Market Access Regulations and The Impact on Pesticide Residue Management”, provided insights into the latest legal requirements related to maximum residue levels (MRLs), as well as retail and industry responses.
Consumer concerns driving new requirements
Pesticide residues (chemical residues that may remain on or in food after being applied to crops) have proven a growing food safety issue in recent years. Thus, a key topic remains how to achieve reductions in the levels of pesticides used to address consumer, environmental and health concerns.
Increasingly, European consumers are demanding the use of fewer pesticides and insecticides in agricultural production. Some European retailers and supermarket groups have also implemented their own stricter controls than the current legal requirements.
Soler said there are “private standards” for pesticide residues being set in European markets over and above those formally required from exporters. He attributes this to growing consumer pressure and the role of NGOs in this regard.
Many supermarket groups and retailers now require products with pesticide residues to contain no higher than one third of the maximum legal limit, he pointed out.
Some of these requirements were likely put in place to differentiate the relevant supermarket groups or retailers in the marketplace and others, as a direct response to consumer concerns. Soler said there is also a “chemical phobia” spread by some NGOs that is driving this trend.
Therefore, growers must consider several parameters when managing MRLs if they want to comply with the secondary standards set by supermarkets and the retail sector, and engage with European markets, in particular.
Last year, the European Union introduced its “Green Deal” farming policy to reduce the use of pesticides and antibiotics. Specifically, the policy aims to halve pesticide use by 2030, which poses significant implications for many exporting countries.
Soler explained that Bayer develops scenarios and food chain programmes to inform growers’ spray programmes, based on the best available knowledge and both short- and long-term risk assessments.
Dealing with pest resistance
During the SASEV event sessions, the issue of pest resistance – currently causing fruit producers around the world major headaches – also came under the spotlight.
Many of the top pests in agriculture are now resistant to certain pesticides. The discovery of new pesticide active ingredients is recognised as a major challenge. Increasingly, growers also have fewer insecticide-based options to control current and future outbreaks of pests.
Dirk Uys, Bayer Cropscience’s marketing manager for Southern Africa, said new biological alternatives (with low residue levels) are increasingly becoming available to growers.
Avoid the use of a single mode of action to deal with resistance, alternate fungicides and stick to the approved rate of products used for this purpose.
With regard to supermarket groups setting their own standards for residue levels (over and above the legal requirements), he suggested that export countries in the southern hemisphere should potentially engage as a collective with supermarkets on this issue.
In his presentation, “Keep the Technology Alive – Respect Resistance Management”, Uys explored issues related to fungicide resistance. Drug-resistant fungal infestations pose a threat to many exporting countries, he said.
The term “fungicide resistance” refers to an acquired, heritable reduction in the sensitivity of a fungus to a specific anti-fungal agent (i.e. fungicide). The development of such resistance is a complex process influenced by several factors, including climate, pathogens, cropping systems and farm management practices, continued Uys.
“The genetic variability of a fungal population gives some individuals a higher tolerance to fungicide,” he explained. If the same fungicide is used repeatedly, these tolerant individuals can survive and reproduce, passing on their tolerance to the next generation, he cautioned.
For many decades, farmers have used fungicides to protect their harvests against disease. However, using the same fungicide repeatedly can lead to the development of populations of resistant fungi. This makes the fungicide less effective, risking the yield and quality of the harvest.
One of the key resistance-causing triggers Uys mentioned, is the population of the pathogen present (i.e. how many spores are around). Spores’ ability to spread between plants, crops and regions is considered a significant risk factor, he said. The more spores present, the higher the chances of resistance developing. The life cycle of the pathogen is also critical; the shorter the life cycle, the more frequent the need for exposure to the fungicide and the faster the build-up of resistance.
Moreover, over-spraying crops may also cause problems when it comes to pesticide resistance. Fortunately, Uys points out, research shows that if growers link integrated disease management practices, they can reduce the chances of such resistance developing.
Ultimately, resistance is managed through early prevention of pathogens and related diseases, following product labels closely, applying the right amount of product at the right times, and rotating the fungicides used during the growing season.
He urged growers to revisit some of their farming operations (including pruning practices) and to deal with pest management in an integrated way.
Avoid the use of a single mode of action to deal with resistance, alternate fungicides and stick to the approved rate of products used for this purpose, he said.
Also, introduce cropping methods that reduce disease. This includes growing disease-tolerant varieties, manipulating the crop environment (through pruning and improved airflow) and optimising crop health during production.
Visit www.frac.info for more information on how to deal with pesticide resistance at farm and regional level.
