At the event we recently attended in southern Spain (see entries below), we asked two journalists, one from the trade press publication, Editorial Agricola Española, and the other from the press agency, EFE, how the issue of the revision of the European pesticides regulation, Directive 91/414, was being dealt with by the Spanish press.
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At the European Voice event we recently attended (see our previous entry) we had a short chat with Mr Otmar Weingarten, who is Managing Director of the the Verband Deutscher Hopfenpflanzer, the Association of German Hop Growers. Mr Weingarten spoke about: the yield and quality reductions that German hop growers (who account for a third [...]

For those readers who don’t regularly check out the posts by other bloggers that prop up in our Netvibes Universe, here’s a sample from the last month or so that might be of interest.
Rob Edwards writes about alleged reports of record levels of pesticide contamination in European food.
Nogger’s blog reports on the Eurocare study on [...]

International Policy Network, a UK think-tank, issued a statement today on their assessment of the ongoing reform of European pesticide legislation, Directive 91/414. Professor Sir Colin Berry, Emeritus Professor of Pathology at Queen Mary College, University of London, and former UK government scientist, criticised the proposed legislation saying: “The costs of implementing this legislation will [...]

Following our visit to the Efyasa farm in Spain, we spoke to chief agronomist José Luis Ripolles. He mentioned the quality issue arising from attacks by the California Red Scale pest; the limited use of pesticides in citrus fruit farming in Spain; and the fact that the five year exemption on irreplaceable pesticides being touted [...]

We attended an event in Isla Cristina in southern Spain earlier this month at the Efyasa orange farm, which operates on the principle of Integrated Pest Management, an approach that uses a complimentary array of methods to control pests in an attempt to reduce reliance on pesticides.
In this debate, focus has tended to be on [...]

A frequently expressed concern is that the main potential losers from the proposed changes in pesticide rules might be various fruits and vegatables such as peas, cabbages and carrots. The relatively small volumes of production might not justify the commercial effort to find replacement products. Although customarily referred to as ‘minor uses’ of plant [...]

We recently attended the European Voice debate on the role for pesticides in sustainable agriculture (disclaimer: the event was sponsored by ECPA, as is Pesticide Information). We were not permitted to film the debate itself, which is a shame, seeing as the event aimed to give a voice to all sides of the debate - [...]

When Farmers Weekly presented their Save our Sprays petition to German Green MEP Hiltrud Breyer, the response they received was interesting to say the least. It will be recalled that the UK regulatory agency, the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), has estimated that the cut-off criteria agreed by EU farm ministers in their ‘common position’ [...]

Last week we attended a press briefing in Brussels for the launch of a new impact study that looks at the possible price increases on agricultural markets in Europe if current revisions of the regulation governing pesticides (Directive 91/414) are approved. The study was produced by EuroCARE BONN, the European Centre for Agricultural, Regional and [...]