Australia approves emergency use permit for chickpea fungicide captan

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority has approved an emergency use permit for the fungicide captan to help protect chickpea crops from disease.
 

About 600,000 hectares of chickpeas have been planted in Australia this winter and with strong prices this year the crop could make about $500 million for growers across the northern cropping belt.
 

However while well-timed rainfall has boosted the crop's prospects it has also increased the risk of disease, in particular ascochyta.
 

Pulse Australia National Development Manager, Gordon Cumming, said as a result an emergency use permit has been issued.
 

"The biggest juggling act we have with these permits is what we call risk to trade, so whilst we can use a product on an Australian crop, there is the potential for residues in the grain," Mr Cumming said.
 

"Most of the Australian pulses are exported, we consume very little in Australia, so we have to be mindful of how those residues would be viewed by an importing country.
 

"Many of these products are either quite old or very new and some of these countries have to maximum residue limit set for the these products, and without an MRL, if grain is tested they might say they don't want that and we could be locked out of that market."
 

Mr Cumming however said importers of existing fungicides should be able to have access to more chemical so the emergency use permit might not be needed.
 

"The first thing I would encourage growers and their agronomists to do make contact with their suppliers and to see where the chemical is at and their ability to source it to meet their potential needs going forward."