Neonicotinoids What Alternatives For Beets After Abandoning These Killer Pesticides Dabeil

The era of neonicotinoids is over. The Ministry of Agriculture waived its requirement to obtain permission from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to use neonicotinoids on sugar beet seeds that must be sown in March on Monday, January 23, in order to comply with the CJEU's ruling.

Environmental organizations and the scientific community have condemned the use of these pesticides that target the nervous systems of insects. A new derogation would have also been in violation of the pledges France made to stop the loss of biodiversity at the COP15 conference in Montreal, Quebec, in December.

This unexpected decision, which came after the CJEU's ruling, will force beet growers to take different action to safeguard their crops from jaundice, which is spread by the aphid. France was planning to grant a new derogation before the CJEU's ruling. Can you first explain what neonicotinoids are and why they are now banned? David Makowski: C is a very effective insecticide product that has the advantage for farmers of being able to be applied as a seed treatment. He is the research director at the National Institute of Agronomic Research (Inrae), and he discusses the alternatives for franceinfo . franceinfo.

Since the insecticide is incorporated into the seed and automatically diffuses into the plant, it is a preventive treatment, which makes it very useful. Because of its high effectiveness, it can have an adverse effect on the environment that is much broader than the aphids that beet growers are trying to control.

The bees are a frequent example that is used. They suffer negative effects from this insecticide.

This has been shown in a number of studies. The last point is that it is a residual product that lingers in the environment for a long time.

There are already various techniques available to beet growers as alternatives. First, there are pesticides that can be used instead of neonicotinoids.

A phytosanitary product like flonicamid, for instance, will primarily target aphids. A recent study in which David Makowski participated found a 79.9% reduction in the number of aphids 14 days after application, one of many experiments that have shown its efficacy.

There are other phytosanitary products, such as spirotetramat, but they are all covered by derogations, some of which may or may not be prolonged. Because it is relatively specific to aphids and won't have a significant effect on other organisms, flonicamid is thought to be less dangerous than neonicotinoids.

Additionally, it deteriorates relatively quickly. There are methods that aim to disturb aphids, such as mulching (spreading straw over crops), which aims to prevent pesticides, which are one of the main causes of biodiversity loss, from being used.

By preventing aphids from identifying host plants, leaving a plant cover on the ground helps decrease aphid infestations. Planting companion crops in the spaces between the rows of beets is an alternative method.

We will cultivate these plants not for human consumption but rather to impede aphid behavior. Although these methods have an impact, they are not quite as potent as substitute chemicals.

A different strategy is to use less nitrogen fertilizer. An excessive amount of nitrogen can weaken the plant and increase its susceptibility to aphids.

The issue is that this cutback might hurt agricultural yields and punish farmers. There are also biocontrol techniques, which use biological rather than chemical products to treat an issue.

Although these biocontrol products have undergone numerous experimental trials, they consistently perform much worse than chemical products. Because we haven't had a chance to test these methods for very long, there isn't much information available about how well they work.

As a result, it is harder to determine their level of effectiveness using the data that is currently available. There is uncertainty regarding the degree of effectiveness of these alternative methods as well as the best modalities for their application.

We can anticipate significant advancement on this front over the ensuing few years. A vast array of options have just been described by you.

However, farmers assert that there is no solution, like this beet grower who was interviewed by Franceinfo. Depending on what is meant by an alternative, you can explain this discourse in a variety of ways.

Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of other methods in controlling aphid infestations, whether they are used alone or in combination. The beet growers probably want to draw attention to the fact that these treatments require more technical implementation.

Apply the treatment at the proper time and possibly combine it with other strategies, ranging from treatments that are applied automatically through a seed to treatments that require you to adhere to the aphid monitoring network. Of course, there is a difference in terms of complexity, implementation, and consequently, working hours and costs.

Essentially, this is where the challenge is for me. Although the farmers were a little taken aback by this choice, the alternatives are well known.

They are posted on the websites of technical colleges with connections to beet farmers. They will need to conduct extensive testing of these alternative techniques.

Some individuals have already done so. The extent to which farmers are able to adopt these alternative techniques or not will be something to watch this year.

The Ministry of Agriculture waived its requirement to obtain permission from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to use neonicotinoids on sugar beet seeds that must be sown in March on Monday, January 23, in order to comply with the CJEU's ruling.