For healthy potatoes - Bayer CropScience

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Biodiversity and Crop Protection – how the balance is maintained The word biodiversity is used to describe the variety that is found among living organisms. Three levels are recognised: genetic hetereogeneity; the diversity of species; and the variety of ecosystems. It is essential that we protect this diversity in order to maintain the evolutionary potential of life on our planet. Numerous studies are done to test the effects of crop protection products on the environment, for example in water and soil. 20 COURIER 2/06
Agriculture, in all its forms, inevitably means disruption of natural ecosystems. What is therefore important is that a balance is achieved between varied habitats on the one hand, and agricultural use of land on the other. This is certainly possible – because high environmental standards can be combined with productivity and profitability in agricultural systems. Extensive research efforts These days, the development of a new crop protection compound can take up to ten years. Before any products can be marketed, an extensive programme of research and development work is done to demonstrate the safety of the compound to people and the environment. An application to register a crop protection compound can only be made once a catalogue of requirements has been met. The requirements themselves are continually being reviewed and strengthened in order to ensure an ever more comprehensive characterization of the product. All of the studies done during the research and development stage, and the risk assessments based on them, are collected together to create a safety profile for the new crop protection compound. Existing products – those that are already on the market – must also be re-tested and re-classified when the time comes for them to be re-registered. Not all products are able to satisfy the complete set of requirements, and some fail to achieve regulatory approval. Among the required studies are tests relating to the sensitivity of standard species selected to represent the variety of non-target organisms that are likely to be exposed to the product in use, whether present on the ground, in the soil, or in water. These include algae, fish, water fleas, plants, earthworms, mites, parasitic wasps, bees, birds, and certain mammals, such as mice. However, tests done under laboratory conditions are only part of the story. Under the real environmental conditions of nature, not all organisms are equally exposed to crop protection compounds. If laboratory tests indicate sensitivity in a particular species, the product’s effects on it must also be tested under the more complex conditions of an intact ecosystem. <strong>For</strong> example, in order to determine the safety of the product to aquatic communities, differing concentrations of test compound are applied to small experimental water bodies in so-called “mesocosm studies”: the dynamics of the treated ecosystem are then studied over a period of several months. Agricultural practice determines that only a proportion of the fields in a particular area of land are being treated with a particular crop protection compound at any given time. Scientists assessing the environmental compatibility of a product therefore take into consideration both the distribution of certain species (the proportion of time spent in a treated field) and their behaviour (for example the feeding habits of wood mice and water voles, partridges, larks or yellow wagtails). Socalled „generic studies“ are done on areas of land of between five and a hundred hectares in size and containing a number of crop types: they aim to establish which species typically live within these agricultural areas, and also to what extent they use crops and orchards as sources of food. These studies are sometimes run in parallel in more than one country. Since they do not involve the use of a particular crop protection compound, their findings can be applied to different products. Generic studies indicate the typical level of exposure to a product used in the agricultural landscape in question. With the help of geographical information systems and simulation models, the results of smaller studies can be extrapolated to cover larger agroecosystems. Good agricultural practices are key The success of our highly-refined crop production technologies depends on them being used responsibly by the farmer. Good agricultural practice and soil husbandry are important factors. <strong>Bayer</strong> Crop- Science contributes to sustainable agriculture through its support for, and promotion of Integrated Crop Management (ICM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The idea behind ICM is to provide farmers with a method for protecting the environment within the economic framework they operate under. By developing and using ICM-Strategies tailored to local conditions, it is possible to produce crops economically and to protect biodiversity at the same time – independent of geographical location, the size of the farm, socio-economic factors and technical standards. 2/06 COURIER 21
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For healthy potatoes - Bayer CropScience

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