New EU pesticide rules threaten food production
New EU legislation to authorise pesticides, based on hazard-based assessment rather than long-established scientific evaluation, threatens the future of European food production, warns Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the UK Crop Protection Agency.
In comments made to the BBC’s Green Room, Dyer wrote: “Looking only at the hazardous potential of substances may reduce the farmers' armoury of plant disease-fighting tools below the critical point. That is food for thought, especially considering what lies ahead”.
Dyer called for a “reality check,” as policy-makers, scientists and farmers prepare to meet the challenges of climate change and population growth. “In the face of climate change, how will farmers be able to control increasing pest damage?” wrote Dyer.
“How will Europe secure an affordable supply of fresh fruit and vegetables if our farmers' ability to fight pests, weeds and crop disease is eroded?”
