Neonicotinoids

Neonicotinoids were introduced in the early 1990s as a replacement for older, more damaging chemicals. They are a systemic insecticide, meaning that they are absorbed into every cell in a plant, making all parts poisonous to pests. But some scientists have been concerned about their impact, almost since the moment they were introduced. Much of the worry has surrounded their effects on bees and in 2013 the European Commission adopted a proposal to restrict the use of 3 pesticides belonging to the neonicotinoids family (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiametoxam) for a period of 2 years. This article tells us farmers are struggling and think the environment is worse off.  According to Peter Kendall, Chair of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (and past President of the NFU), ‘a crop that would usually have one seed treatment followed by a maximum two sprays, could have at least five. This comes at an extremely busy time of year for farmers and at a cost in machinery and man hours, as well as buying the pyrethroids. Kendall is expecting his crop to be down by around 30% and says the 700,000 hectare (17.2m acre) UK crop to be down by a quarter at a cost of millions. In some parts of the country, the oilseed rape crop is so badly infected with flea beetle, the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) approved emergency use for a neonicotinoid spray. Although it may be slightly weaker than the banned neonicotinoid, it is still a systemic pesticide taken up by the plant and surrounding soil. Dave Goulson, professor of biology at the University of Suffolk, points out that the banned neonicotinoids are still in the plant when bees come to forage, whereas the sprays being used by most farmers now break down in the soil. In his words: “You have to sympathise with farmers who have lost their crop. On the other hand you have to weigh up the damage of neonicotinoids over many years,” he says. “Doesn’t destroying the environment and the health of bees have greater ramifications than the loss of one crop?”