Page 29 - Green Knowledge 2020

Fewer biological pesticides in Norway
Norwegian growers need microbial plant protection products to increase their adoption of integrated pest management. Norway has approved only a fraction of these pesticides compared to Sweden and Denmark.
The number of approved microbial plant protection products has increased dramatically over the last decade. However, there is a great deal of variation between countries. For example, Sweden and Denmark have approved five times as many micro- bial plant protection products than Norway.
“As of January 2019, 20 microbial plant protection products had been approved in Denmark and Sweden, compared to 4 in Norway,” explains Valborg Kvakkestad.
The researcher has looked into possible explanations behind the differences. The size of the market is slightly smaller in Norway. That could explain some of the differences, but not all. The main explanation is probably that the regulations have been imple- mented differently.
“Denmark and Sweden have had the same EU regulations since the 1990s, while Norway has had its own pesticide regulations. On June 1, 2015,
Norway adopted the same regulations as Sweden and Denmark. What the old and new regulations have in common is that pesticides must not have a harmful effect on health, or any unacceptable environmental effects,” Kvakkestad explains.
The main reason behind the current differences is probably how the regulations are implemented. Researchers compared the approval process for three microbial plant protection products in the Scandina- vian countries, and it appeared that Norway spent more time on evaluating and making decisions on product applications.
One of the eight principles of integrated pest management is that sustainable biological, physical and other non-chemical methods must be preferred to chemical methods if they provide satisfactory pest control. Access to microbial plant protection products is therefore vital if farmers should use integrated pest management.
Photo: Finn Måge
Goal:
Collaboration: Funding:
Contact:
In the SMARTCROP project, researchers looked into the reasons behind the differences between Norway, Sweden and Denmark in terms of the approval of microbiological pesticides.
Rationale, contact Roma Gwynn
Research Council of Norway
Research Scientist Valborg Kvakkestad. Email: valborg.kvakkestad@nibio.no, mobile: +47 481 32 706. Division of Food Production and Society
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