Progressive retailer reduces pesticide use
Co-operative Retail are considering extending their policies which prohibit the use of certain pesticides to arable crops grown for food sold in stores. These and other ideas were set out during the Pesticide Use Reduction in Europe (PURE) conference organised by PAN Europe in Copenhagen. John Harvey takes the story further.
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The Co-op has brought its growers of fresh fruit and
vegetables for freezing, drying and canning into its scheme for reducing
pesticides. Wine grape, cocoa and coffee production are also covered. ‘We are
currently discussing the opportunities to extend the policy to arable crops with
our farming business Farmcare, which has already successfully applied the
restrictions to its own production, and has built up a significant level of
knowledge and expertise which could be used to assist other farmers introduce
the requirements’ said Kevin Barker, Quality Assurance Manager for Fresh and
Frozen Produce at the Co-operative Group.
If arable farmers are asked to join – and it is almost
certain they will be – one of the first things they will realise is that the
Co-op has already banned some pesticides and restricted others. So far, there
are 24 active ingredients on the prohibited list (See PN 53, p.3). Some of these
bans will conflict with the European Union, which has approved about 40
chemicals on Annex I of directive 91/414. They will also conflict with the
Pesticides Safety Directorate, the DEFRA agency which approves chemicals in the
UK.
How the Co-op assesses pesticides
Next, they will learn that the Co-op also has a list of
restricted pesticides, which currently contains 30 active ingredients. Growers
can only use chemicals on the restricted list by agreement with the Co-op. If
they ask to use these products, they have to provide evidence that no viable
alternatives (chemical or non-chemical) are available.
The Co-op encourages all its growers to consider three steps
before using the chemical pesticides: preventative measures, different
cultivation techniques, biological controls or more benign chemical
alternatives.
This decision-making process is explained in special product
advisory sheets which have been established by agronomic experts for crops such
as carrots, potatoes, bananas and coffee and will be developed for cereal crops.
‘The sheets allow growers to make a comparative assessment of all the products
available’, said Mr Barker. ‘So for potato blight, for example, instead of a
grower having to sit with 40 containers and try to make a decision based on what
was on the label, our sheets give the information in tabulated form so that he
or she can use their knowledge of the land and the relevant regulations to
select the best products.’
In the case of blight, control is currently almost impossible
without the use of chemicals. But Mr Barker thinks there is useful information
on treating this and other pests and diseases which is not reaching growers.
‘One of my biggest concerns is the amount of information in the UK and
overseas which never seems to filter down to the people who need it.’ The
Co-op advisory sheets try to plug this gap: in the UK, they cover potatoes,
carrots, onions, mushrooms and cauliflowers. Overseas – and worldwide the
Co-op has at least 10,000 growers in the pesticide scheme – there are product
advisory sheets for coffee, cocoa, pineapples, bananas, exotic fruit and
vegetables.
Co-op has a different way of evaluating chemicals.
Rather than using the conventional regulatory method of risk
assessment based on data supplied by chemical companies, the Co-op’s pesticide
advisory group uses a hazard framework to decide whether pesticides should be
banned or restricted. Two different sets of triggers are used for each category.
So persistence on the soil is one hazard trigger for banned and restricted
pesticides, but the trigger is much tougher in the prohibited category.
Endocrine disruption, carcinogenicity, bioaccumulation and toxicity are some of
the other hazard triggers. A pesticide is dropped into the framework, and
depending on which hazards it triggers, it will either end up in the banned or
the restricted category. As this method is used to update and extend the
Co-op’s pesticides list, so suppliers are kept informed about these
developments.
Why risk assessment does not suit all the Co-op’s growers
Mr Barker gave an example of how risk assessment could be
unsuitable for growers supplying the Co-op. ‘Within a legal recommendation
about the equipment used by workers to apply pesticides, the label may indicate
the use of a high level of personal protective equipment, including coveralls.
What the Co-op has to consider is all our farmworkers’ welfare, worldwide.
‘Coveralls may be very suitable for workers in Northern
European countries. But when you go to Southern Europe or Africa, then clearly
conditions are very different. In these countries, the type of coveralls that
are available are not suitable for use or are too expensive and are therefore
seldom used, and thus the risk of this hazard occurring is not reduced.’
Rather than measuring the risk posed by a pesticide, the
Co-op’s pesticide advisory group evaluates whether something should be used or
not by deciding how hazardous it is.
The advisory group’s make-up is unusual, too. There is no
one on it from the chemical industry, although consideration will be made to
inviting a representative from the industry as an observer. Lack of
representation from the agrochemical industry is not seen as a drawback because
the group does include three members of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides.
The group also includes David Buffin from Pesticides Action
Network UK, and Sandra Bell from Friends of the Earth is an observer.
So should arable farmers be apprehensive about joining the
Co-op scheme? No, because it works, it is driven by consumer demand and reflects
Co-op policy set out in the Green and Pleasant Land document which was
underpinned by extensive research.
Green and Pleasant Land, the Co-operative Group, July 2001, Freepost MR9473, Manchester M4 8BA; freephone 0800 068 6727; website: www.co-op.co.uk
Kevin Barker can be contacted at the Co-operative Group, PO Box 53, Manchester M60 4ES, UK, Kevin.Barker@co-op.co.uk, www.co-op.co.uk and farmcare at www.coopfarmcare.com
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 63, March 2004, page 7]