•
NEWS
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
MARCH 2017
Approval for the herbicide
active linuron has not been
renewed by the European
Commission Standing
Committee on Plants, Animals,
Food and Feed (SCoPAFF).
The Health and Safety
Executive (HSE), which reports
on behalf of SCoPAFF said the
herbicide’s approval had not
been renewed due to available
evidence which showed linuron
displayed endocrine disrupting
properties whichmay have
adverse effects on endocrine
organs in both humans and
non-target organisms.
Richard Butler, a Lincolnshire
based agronomist with
Agronomy group Agrii, said
that he expected the last date
for sales of linuron based
products to be June 2017with
end of use on-farm to follow 1
year later.
“Although any announcement
of a product withdrawal can
never be viewed positively, UK
potato growers and their
advisers have known about the
questionmarks over linuron for
almost a year now sowe’ve had
time to look objectively at new
chemical options and trial
them,” says Richard.
“I now see Praxim
(metobromuron) launched in
2015 by Belchim Crop
Protection as the natural
successor to linuron in pre-
emergence strategies, but with
added benefits in that it offers
a higher level of crop safety
across all varieties and on all
soil types,” he says.
“If I’m startingwith Praxim, I
apply it at between 2.5 - 3 litres
per hectare with either
prosulfocarb or metribuzin just
before the ridges crack. One of
my early field notes from 2015
confirms its dual ability to not
only control most broad leaved
and grass weeds, but also
sensitise weeds enabling the
emerging crop canopy to
smother them,” he continues.
Last year Mr Butler also
successfully trialled Gozai
(pyraflufen-ethyl), a new
contact herbicide launched by
Belchim in 2016 andwas
impressedwith its first season
results.
“Gozai performed extremely
well at pre-emergence on the
some of the finer silt soils
where I had previously
experienced problems with
control of small nettles, and
with Diquat potentially under
threat, I also aim to use Gozai
as my main desiccant later this
year,” he says.
8
Linuron fails to gain renewed approval
Imports hitting Irish vegetable growers
New ‘StoreOwner’sGuide toCIPCApplication’ booklet
Richard Butler of Agrii.
Growers of some vegetable
crops in Ireland - like Iceberg
lettuce and Scallions - are
almost extinct; and discounted
imports of produce and
supermarkets using vegetables
as cheap attractions to entice
customers into their stores are
putting Irish growers out of
business, says Irish Farmers
Association vegetable
committee chairman, Paul
Brophy.
Mr Brophy, who is one of
Ireland’s largest broccoli
growers, says cheap produce is
not always good. “Where is the
choice for consumers in
allowing this to happen? And,
if these producers should
happen to give up, their
knowledge and skill base would
be lost to the country.”
Mr Brophy said supermarkets
that sold vegetables all year
round at cheaper prices were
having a devastating impact on
Irish producers. He said: “We
used to have 600 produce
growers in the country, and
nowwe are down to 240.
“Until the recent spell of bad
weather in countries like Spain,
the supermarkets were able to
bring vegetables like broccoli
into this country all year-round.
Here in Ireland, broccoli is a
summer vegetable. Yet we now
have a situationwhere there is
only a 55% chance that a head
of broccoli purchased in Ireland
betweenmid-June andmid-
November will be home grown.
“The principle of seasonality
no longer holds within the fresh
produce sector. The drive
towards
cheap food is
havingmajor
repercussions
for the
vegetable
sector.
Seasonality is
not a third
world issue; it
is a first world
problem.”
On his own
farm, Brophy
started planting this year’s crop
in heated poly tunnels around
twoweeks ago. It will take
another five weeks before they
are ready for transplanting out
in the fields.
From July 2017, all potato
store owners must comply with
new legislation stating that
CIPC (chlorpropham)
applications to stored potatoes
must not exceed themaximum
total dose rate of 36g/tonne for
potatoes produced for
processing, and 24g/tonne for
those sent to the freshmarket.
To help growers with the
necessary steps to ensure
compliance with the new
legislation, the Potato Industry
CIPC Stewardship Group is
launching a new technical
guidance booklet: the ‘Store
Owner’s Guide to CIPC
Application’.
“CIPC is vital to the potato
industry, as it’s used as a sprout
suppressant treatment. CIPC
applications must now bemade
using ‘active recirculation’ to
optimise the efficacy of the new
European lower maximum dose
rate,” says Dr Mike Storey, chair
of the Potato Industry CIPC
Stewardship Group.
“Active recirculation refers to
the new industry-agreed term
to describe the re-circulation of
air containing CIPC fog, by
fans,” he says.
Maximum dose rates for CIPC
have been ‘stepping down’
under the ‘Be CIPC Compliant’
campaign since 2012, from the
maximum level that was
originally 63.5g/tonne. This
summer the guidelines for the
new dose rates require that
‘active recirculation’ is
implemented.
“Research carried out by
AHDB at Sutton Bridge Crop
Storage Research (SBCSR) in
collaborationwith the industry
has clearly demonstrated that
the correct use of fans can
systematically improve the
uniformity of CIPC distribution –
at the lower dose rate, and
reduce the risk of maximum
residue exceedance,” adds Dr
Storey.
The new technical guide
outlines compliancemeasures
for effective application at the
new dose rates being
implemented in July 2017, and
contains detailed guidelines for
bulk and box potato storage.
The new ‘Store Owner’s
Guide to CIPC Application’ was
sent to UK potato growers
during February 2017 and is
also available to download from
the Be CIPC Compliant website:
Paul Brophy.
