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CANADA’S PEST Management Regulatory Agency says current agricultural practices related to the use of neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seed are not sustainable, but has stopped short of calling for a ban.
The insecticides, which are widely used in New Zealand as seed treatments for brassicas and cereals in formulations such as Poncho and Gaucho, were recently banned for most uses in Europe in an attempt to protect bee populations.
The Canadian agency proposes requiring use of safer dust-reducing seed flow lubricants; adherence to safer seed planting practices; new pesticide and seed package labels with enhanced warnings; and updated value information to justify continued use of neonicotinoids on up to 100% of corn seed and 50% of soybean seed.
The agency is inviting stakeholders and the public to submit written comments on its proposals to protect bees from exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides from treated corn and soybean seed.
It says it is acting after receiving a significant number of pollinator mortality reports in 2012, mainly from corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec. Areas of high corn production correlate well with the locations of bee mortalities and about 70% of affected dead bee samples tested positive for residues of neonicotinoid insecticides. Neonicotinoid residues were only detected in unaffected bees in one sample, and at very low levels.
“We concluded that the majority of pollinator mortalities were a result of exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides, likely through exposure to contaminated dust generated during the planting of treated corn seed,” the agency says.
Unusually warm and dry weather was thought to be a contributing factor. Measures were implemented to reduce pollinator exposure following the 2012 cases but in spring 2013, despite these and more typical weather patterns, a significant number of pollinator mortality reports from both corn and soybean growing regions of Ontario and Quebec, as well as Manitoba, were received, the agency says.
It acknowledges bee health is a complex issue and may involve a number of additional factors, including parasites, disease and climate. A re-evaluation of all uses of neonicotinoid insecticides is underway in cooperation with the US Environmental Protection Agency.
“We are expediting this re-evaluation, which will help us better understand and manage potential risks these pesticides may pose to long-term bee health,” it says.
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