Foodlog Cafe @WFC: Can we harvest without crop protection?
Pesticides are under attack. The public has trouble with it. How do we proceed with this?
Putting a lot of the same plants together is asking for trouble, because diseases make it super easy to spread. And for beetles and other pests, a field filled with nothing but crops they love is a treat. That's why we use toxins in fields and greenhouses.
But pesticides are under fire. The public has trouble with it. In France, the public protested vehemently against a decision by parliament to re-authorize a previously banned drug. NU.nl recently headlined: “Use of pesticides viewed with increasing suspicion”. Citizens file legal proceedings against farmers, gardeners and growers. The Den Bosch Court banned an authorised remedy at the end of July. Spraying is in danger of becoming subject to licensing. Harvests would deteriorate sharply and food would become even more expensive.
The Ctgb admissions authority is under fire. The NVWA supervisor complains that compliance with the rules is too low. Farmers complain that drugs are banned much faster than better ones come in return. It can't go on like this. How, then? That's what we're going to talk about on November 6 with an impressive list of experts, their critics, and the Ctgb and the NVWA themselves.