Requirements concerning the emission of crop protection chemicals will be tightened considerably in the years ahead. And the number of available products will show a further decrease. During the Theme Day Plant Health on 18 March in Bleiswijk scientists provided information about new ways in crop protection while participants discussed this subject in various workshops.
Tiny Aerts, president of the growers organisaion LTO Glaskracht Nederland opened the day. He stressed the importance of the development of a new approach for the control of pests and diseases. Aerts said: “We have to further reduce the emission of plant protection products. The requirements will be tightened considerably in the future. This will put high demands on the sector and new knowledge and techniques are required.” According to Tiny Aerts the future lies in integrated cultivation. “Growers that are not prepared to change, cannot survive in the Netherlands.”
During the meeting growers of vegetables and ornamental crops were informed about running research and there were a number of workshops with discussions about the different problems around plant health.
Chain issue
Important research themes are: the development of alternatives for chemical control such as the use of biological control agents, increasing the resilience of crops, preventing pests and diseases by climate measures, and improvement of application techniques.
A number of points were listed in the workshop Crop Protection in 2020. Greenhouse design and climate will be playing an ever increasing role in the prevention of pests and diseases. In ten years, technique will play a major role in conducting specific crop treatments. Chemicals will still be required but will only be used as curative measure. Many biological control agents and more products of natural origin will be available. Breeding will result in a higher resilience of crops against pest and diseases.
Participants stressed that plant health is a chain issue. Ways to prevent new organisms entering the Netherlands via imported plant material was subject of discussion. Speakers as well as listeners also stressed that the demands of consumers, and thus of retailers, as regards residues will continue to tighten. This also requires a new approach to plant protection.
According to Rob Meijer, team leader Plant Health of Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture, there has been insufficient attention for plant health problems over recent years. He said: “Authorities and organisations are focussing strongly on energy. They seem to have forgotten what happened to production and thus to energy efficiency in case of a serious infestation by a pest or disease.”
The Theme Day Plant Health was attended by a total of 160 stakeholders, growers, advisors, suppliers and policy makers. Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture organised this day together with the Product Board for Horticulture and LTO Groeiservice.