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Ireland would have to reduce its use of the most hazardous crop sprays by as much as 80% before 2030 and all sprays by 50%, if recommendations to the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) were followed.
Grass is counted as a crop under the proposals.
A draft report, penned by rapporteur Sarah Wiener MEP and seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, suggests a further ramping-up of the original European Commission’s hazardous pesticide use reduction target of 50%. It has also been proposed that the reference years for member states’ reduction targets be changed from 2015-2017 to 2018-2020.
This would mean countries that have reduced the use of hazardous crop sprays already, pesticides deemed by Brussels to pose a threat to health and for which an alternative exists, could have to reduce use further. Under the recommendations made to ENVI members, there would be a complete ban on crop sprays in areas deemed “sensitive” and all of Ireland is deemed a sensitive area.
A “risk-based” tax would also be added to some crop sprays to encourage tillage farmers to take up integrated pest management.
Next steps
Once finalised, the report will be debated and voted on by the ENVI committee and if compromise cannot be reached, it will go to a full plenary of the European Parliament.
Once agreed by the Parliament, the recommendations will return to the Commission for further consideration.
ENVI committee substitute member and Irish MEP Billy Kelleher says crop spray reduction proposals for 2030 have a “long way to go”.
Kelleher suggested there will be significant push back from some ENVI committee members and insisted that MEP Wiener, a Green politician, does not share the views of many in the group.
The Cork man said that “even the 50% [target] was very ambitious” and warned that a full impact assessment is required before targets for reducing the use of crop sprays are set in stone.
“It would have a profound impact on crop health and crop yield.
“We all want to get to a stage where we have sustainable crop production but we’re not allowing new [crop] technologies to develop or even giving them permission,” he said.
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