Impact of plant protection restrictions on Irish tillage raised in EU
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has highlighted in Brussels the negative impact on Irish tillage farmers that restrictions on plant protection products are having.
IFA Grain Committee chair Kieran McEvoy led a delegation from IFA that met with Dr. Klaus Berend, deputy director general with responsibility for the Food Safety, Sustainability and Innovation Directorates at DG Sante in Brussels.
“Tillage farmers are increasingly concerned about the loss of plant protection products from the European market," McEvoy said.
"The recent decision not to re-authorise the key cereal herbicide flufenacet is yet another solution removed from the tool-box for farmers. We wanted to highlight to DG Sante the practical and economic consequences for farmers.
“Over 78 active ingredients have been lost since 2019 with virtually no replacement products coming on to the market.
"Unfortunately, this looks set to grow further as authorisation timelines of the active ingredients defined as ‘candidates for substitution’ under EU legislation draw nearer,” he said.
The recently published EU Vision for Agriculture document references the need for more careful consideration around the removal of active substances where alternatives do not exist.
“It is clear that European policy makers believe that biopesticides and solutions such as mechanical in-crop weeding are viable alternatives to conventional plant products," McEvoy continued.
"We articulated to DG Sante that farmers are willing to move towards the use of biopesticides provided they are direct replacements for conventional plant protection products. For cereal production in Ireland, this is not the case as it stands.
“We strongly emphasised to Klaus Berend and his officials the negative impact that continued removal of plant protection products will have on the viability and competitiveness of Irish and European crop production,” the IFA chair said.
Meanwhile, figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) earlier this year revealed that the total amount of active substances in plant protection products placed on the market in Ireland fell by 16% in 2023.
Active substances in herbicides comprised 75% of total active substances in plant protection product sales in 2023, while fungicides accounted for 18%.
