nov-dec-2020

ANNUAL GROWERS MEETING Worldwide, Regulations Tightening Customer and consumer surveys worldwide reveal increasing concern about pesticides and other chemicals being harmful to the environment and food safety. The implications for growers are worrisome. Thus, the panel’s emphasis on IPM. The third speaker, Gabriele Ludwig, Ph.D. and Director for Sustainability and Environmental Affairs at the Almond Board of California, reported that surveys reveal high levels of concerns about pesticides globally, with respondents ranking them among their top three. As a result, major markets worldwide are tightening their tolerances for chemical use and residues on food products, even banning some common pesticides outright. “Consumers regard pesticides and chemicals as harmful farming practices which, along with GMOs, are associated with ‘careless big ag’,” Ludwig said. In response to these concerns, governments worldwide have adopted International Maximum Residues Limits (MRLs) that set pesticide residues tolerances for foods traded domestically and internationally. Each country sets its own MRLs or uses CODEX MRLs. Food products are required to have an MRL (or an exemption) in place to be in the marketplace. Attention to MRLs is increasing and tolerances are tightening, Ludwig noted. “There is a growing emphasis on food safety worldwide.” In Europe, which accounts for nearly one-third of California’s almond sales, regulators apply “Cut-off Criteria”, which are more stringent and arbitrary risk assessments. The European Union (EU) is reviewing all pesticides to determine if they have endocrine disruptor, carcinogen, mutagen, or toxic for reproduction properties. If a material meets one of those criteria, its use is banned in the EU, and for use on imports as well. The EU considers the hazard of the chemical only, not the human exposure to it, which presents an incomplete picture of risk to human health. The EU is also working its way through their European Green Deal which seeks to improve the well-being of people, making Europe climate-neutral, and protecting the natural habitat for the good of people, planet and economy. It seeks to transform the EU’s economy for a sustainable future while leaving no one behind. The goal is to reduce chemical use and risk by 50 percent by 2030. Plans for implementing enforcement decisions are expected by end of 2021. The application of MRLs is underway in Asian markets. Turkey is moving toward meeting the EU standards, Egypt expects all lots to comply with EU or EPA standards, and Mexico applies U.S. MRLs to U.S. imports. In the U.S., the EPA is vulnerable to lawsuits for not meeting Endangered Species Act standards. The agency is reviewing pesticide registration requirements and is tightening standards on a long list of widely used materials, including pyrethroids, phosphine, paraquat, chlorpyrifos, Triazine and Simazine, for example. California continues to tighten its oversight and regulations, as well. Telone is under review due to high levels in air quality monitoring sites. New rules are expected by fall of 2021. Ludwig announced that the Department of Pesticide Regulation has set up a Sustainable Pest Management Workgroup to develop a “Roadmap” for decreasing chemical pesticide use in the state. That project starts in January 2021. In addition, with populations of the Western Monarch butterfly declining, surveys have found two leading NOW insecticides on the insect’s milkweed host plant in the Central Valley. Ludwig cautions, “Expect more focus on pollinators.” What this Means for Almond Growers Ludwig pointed out that the worldwide crackdown on agricultural chemical use is making pest management decisions more difficult. Moreover, government decisions are being made on a hazard-based or fear-based set of criteria, raising the question, “If there are no residues, is there a reason to have an MRL ? ” What you can do, Ludwig suggested, is check the MRL database as a part of pest management decisions (GlobalMRL.com), check with Blue Diamond about new issues and concerns, use IPM whenever possible, and calibrate sprayers regularly and drive slowly to reduce drift. To watch a full recording of the Grower Seminar, visit www.youtube.com/bluediamondgrowerscoop. 2 4 A L M O N D F A C T S