New chlorpyrifos requirements announced

New requirements for all 2012 applications of chlorpyrifos insecticides have been announced by a consortium of the three major approval holders of UK products; Dow AgroSciences, Makhteshim Agan and Headland Agrochemicals. The changes form part of the new stewardship initiative; ‘Chlorpyrifos: Say NO to DRIFT’.

Making LERAP three star rated "low drift" nozzles, and an extended 20 metre no-spray buffer zone adjacent to watercourses a requirement for all chlorpyrifos applications from January 2012, the new guidelines are in response to regulatory pressure threatening the availability of the insecticide.

'It’s simply a case of no drift or no chlorpyrifos,’ said Dow’s ecotoxicologist Steve Norman speaking at the Peterborough launch.

Explaining the regulatory backdrop to the issue he said that a new ’risk assessment’ for chlorpyrifos, under its routine EU/UK review, means that the existing label no-spray buffer zones adjacent to watercourses are no longer considered sufficient protection for aquatic organisms by the Chemicals Regulations Directorate (CRD).

'The criteria cannot be met by introducing larger buffer zones alone, meaning that low drift nozzles are now a necessity.’

He added that although chlorpyrifos products currently remain available as the CRD final decision is pending, the industry must adopt the new guidelines to give CRD the confidence to renew the registrations. The aim of the initiative is to achieve 100% uptake of low drift nozzles and extended buffer zones for all 2012 applications" and beyond.

We need every grower, spray operator and adviser to get behind the initiative, he urged.

With chlorpyrifos applications staggered throughout the calendar year, Dick Neale, Technical Manager at Hutchinsons said the versatility of the insecticide means that the timings of use and the breadth of the cropping and pest control spectrum is one of the largest, with cereals, grassland, field vegetables and fruit all implicated.

'It also means that the new guidelines will need to be employed for January wheat bulb fly applications onwards. Thereafter for winter wheat, the next key timing is orange wheat blossom midge control pre-flowering in June; although first cereal crops after grass typically require spring as well as autumn chlorpyrifos treatment to tackle the carryover of leather jackets, and for frit fly control.’

He added that in the absence of chlorpyrifos, lost yield and quality implications would be significant, particularly for milling wheat that attracts a significant price premium, currently around 16-20/t. “The impact is particularly severe for the areas of the UK dominated by arable production.”

Dick continues; ‘Wheat bulb fly for example affects farmers from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, down to Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, he said, noting that fields in the black fenland area from Peterborough to Kings Lynn are almost all bordered by dykes.’ This will mean that a greater level of planning will be necessary to abide by the new guidelines, particularly in a tank mix situation where chlorpyrifos is combined with a late T2 or early T3 application for orange wheat blossom midge control, said Dick.