Craig Hunter, probably Canadian farmers’ best informed
advocate on pesticide issues, is warning that “for the first time in 20 years
we do NOT have the ability to successfully control pests.”
Writing in his column in The Grower newspaper for Ontario
Fruit and Vegetable growers, he reviews the situation over recent years,
starting with congratulations for federal agriculture department and pesticide
regulators at Health Canada for enabling farmers to gain access to valuable
pest control products via the Minor Use Program.
But now there is a combination of worrisome factors.
Pests continue to learn how to overcome pesticides.
Companies have merged, closed some research facilities and
generally reduced the rate of discovery and registration of new products.
And the federal government is reviewing the registration of
familiar and effective pesticides, eliminating some that farmers want and in
some cases desperately need.
Hunter goes on to describe how the Pest Management Review
Agency is caught in an impossible position.
There have been retirements of some of the most experienced
and farmer-friendly staff.
There is pressure from the Auditor General to speed up
re-evaluations.
There have been court decisions forcing the agency to
undertake Special Reviews.
There simply aren’t enough, and enough experienced, staff
members at the Pest Management Review Agency to do it all, says Hunter.
And so farmers face the risk of some day soon planting a
crop – or an orchard or vineyard or building a greenhouse - without knowing
whether they will be able to control pests that could wipe out their
livelihood.
Hunter expects it will happen.
I’ve always had a great deal of respect for his opinions, so
I find his warning quite scary.
I don’t have a whole lot of suggestions about how Canadians
could tackle this challenge, but I think one is to immediately ramp up basic
and applied research geared to better understanding pests and mitigating the
damage they can do.
And I think it needs to be public research by the federal
and provincial governments, some of it in their own labs, much of it at
universities.
And I don’t have much, if any, faith left in the pesticides
companies to undertake the research and development required.
