Vegetable News December 2005
EU Regulations for Food Business
On 1 January 2006 all growers’ holdings will be considered as food businesses under EU regulations dealing with hygiene and food safety.
The legislation is changed to set out more clearly the duty of food businesses to produce food safely. The legislation covers the whole food chain from 'farm to fork'.
It will be the responsibility of all primary producers to demonstrate that food safety measures are in place. In practice the requirements for growers will amount to basic hygiene procedures. As a food business they will have to ensure that hazards are appropriately controlled.
- Growers will need to keep records relevant to food safety including;
- use of plant protection products and biocides;
- measures to ensure that products are protected against contamination;
- use of hygienic production, transport and storage of plant products;
- effective control of hazards;
- any occurrence of disease or pests that may affect human safety;
- information required for purposes of traceability;
- results of any analysis carried out;
Growers participating in Assured Produce Schemes will already be complying with the legislation but those not doing so need to be aware of the legislation and have relevant documentation in place.
Further information can be obtained from the Food Standards Agency telephone 028 9041 7700
Future of herbicides usage in carrots and parsnip
Many key herbicides used in carrot and parsnip production will be lost in 2007. Prometyrn (eg Gesagard), pentanochlor (eg Atlas Solan/ Croptex Bronze/ Atlas Brown) and metoxuron (eg Dosaflo) only have approval until 31 December 2007.
In addition linuron, although approved until December 2008, is likely to be restricted to a reduced rate of 0.96kg /ha/year in the near future.
Trials, funded by the HDC, are ongoing to find alternatives. To date, in carrots, the best pre-emergence treatment was pendimethalin (eg Stomp) + aclonifen with the option of adding Centium. At the 2 leaf stage the best results were obtained by using diflufenican + linuron, and by Sencorex.
It is hoped that pendimethalin will have a change to approval in 2006 so that it can be used post emergence.
In parsnips pre-emergence pendimethalin + aclonifen + metamitron (eg Goltix) gave good results. At the 2 leaf stage best results were given by diflufenican. Sencorex was not crop safe to parsnips
Currently aclonifen, diflufenican are not approved in the UK and Goltix is not approved for carrots or parsnips.
If approval is obtained, these alternatives will provide good replacements for those products no longer approved.
However there is no substitute to date for Dosaflo for use on volunteer potatoes. Growers will have to adopt other methods. One of these may be using a weed wiper. As volunteer potatoes and other strong growing perennial weeds give a height differential between the crop and the weed there is a window of opportunity to deal with these. Developments in weed wiping machinery have largely eliminated the danger of the herbicide dripping on to the crop.
Mechanical methods could also be employed. Vision guided hoes are commercially available and could be used alone or in combination with modified spraying equipment to apply band applications of herbicides.
Promotion of carrots in 2006
The British Carrot Growers Association (BCGA) is concerned that the carrot industry has been declining at the rate of 3% per annum. Although 88% of households buy carrots they do so on average only once a fortnight. The BCGA have decided to fund a PR campaign beginning in 2006. This has the objective of increasing the frequency with which households buy carrots and change the consumer perception of them.
The campaign will portray carrots as healthy, enjoyable, versatile, economical and safe. Key consumer groups will be targeted creative new recipes developed and press coverage will help to send out the message that carrots are a nutritious and fun choice for all the family.
Pesticide Update
Loss of Aztec
Triazamate has not been included in Annex 1 to directive 91/414/EEC and the product Aztec will be revoked in all member states including the UK and Ireland. BASF can sell and supply Aztec until January 2006 and growers can use the product until January 2007.
Signum
The expiry date for Signum has been extended to 18 October 2008. All the existing off label approvals for Signum have been re-issued with this new expiry date.
Off labels
The following off label approvals have been issued since the last Vegetable News
| Product | Active ingredient | Use | Crop | Off label number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SL 567A | metalaxyl-M | general disease control Stogarge rot downy mildew |
parsnip cabbage scallion |
1508/05 1514/05 1515/05 |
| Cyperkill 5 | cypermethrin | leaf miner | lettuce | 1521/05 |
Hallmark with zeon Technology |
lambda-cyhalothrin | carrot fly carrot fly cutworm thrip |
carrots parsnips celery beetroot leek,bulb,onion, scallion |
1597/05 1599/05 1598/05 1610/05 |
| Dithane | mancozeb | leaf Spot (Septoria) root malformation disorder, downy mildew |
celery beetroot |
1677/05 1679/05 |
| Dnadim | dimethoate | general pest control | leek, bulb, onion, garlic | 1697.05 |
| alpha Propachlor | propachlor | weed control | celery, rhubarb | 1699/05 |
| Dithane 945 | mancozeb | root malformation disorder leaf spot |
beetroot celery |
1727/05 1729/05 |
| Phantom | primicarb | aphids aphids |
parsley celery |
1741/05 1744/05 |
| Cleancrop | mancozeb | downy mildew | onions, garlic, shalots | 1789/05 |
| Clayton Chizm FL |
carbendazim | big vein virus Leaf spot |
Lettuce protected celery |
1819/05 1822/05 |
| Amistar | azoxystrobin | powdery mildew | courgette | 1985/05 |
| Claymore | pendimethalin | weed control | lettuce, leek, onion | 2022/05 |
| Delta | deltamethrin | aphid control | calabrese | 2326/05 |
Decis Protech/Agrotech Deltamethrin/ Bandu |
deltamethrin | aphid control | various herbs including parsely |
2322/05 2310/05 2295/05 |
Joan Hamilton
Edible Crops Development Adviser
Greenmount Campus, College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise
December 2005
Telephone (office) 028 9442 6683
Mobile number 077 7575 7251
