Report on the implementation of a TAPAS 2002 action a pilot survey on the pesticide use in potato cultivation in Finland

Transcription

1 Report on the implementation of a TAPAS 2002 action a pilot survey on the pesticide use in potato cultivation in Finland FINLAND Mervi-Leena Savela, Eija-Leena Hynninen and Hans Blomqvist Plant Production Inspection Centre (KTTK) Pesticide Division P.O.Box 42 FIN HELSINKI Finland Tel Internet: Esa Ikäheimo and Anneli Partala Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Tike) P.O.Box 310 FIN GOVERNMENT HELSINKI Finland Tel Internet: tike.mmm.fi

2 Report on the implementation of a TAPAS 2002 action a pilot survey on the pesticide use in potato cultivation in Finland Introduction Finland has comprehensive statistics on pesticide sales amounts since 1953, providing a good picture of the trends in pesticide consumption in Finland in the course of years (See APPENDIX 1). The sales data is compiled by the authorities of Plant Production Inspection Centre (KTTK) from the approval holders of pesticides in Finland (usually importers of pesticides) and published annually in the journal of chemical industry (Kemia-Kemi). However, data on pesticide usage in Finland has not been collected systematically. Because sales statistics cannot give much information on regional use of pesticides, and information on the use of pesticides on specific crops is also limited, a need of surveys on pesticide usage to supplement the information given by sales statistics has been recognized. Therefore, a project was started in within the framework of TAPAS (Technical Action Plan to improve Agricultural Statistics) - to improve methods of collecting and analyzing data on pesticide consumption. During the first part of the TAPAS project a survey was carried out to find out the institutes collecting pesticide usage data in Finland. Also, development of a database for saving and analyzing pesticide sales statistics was started. Improvement of the database was continued during the second part of the project (in 2001). In addition, co-operation with the institutes collecting pesticide usage data was continued. As a result, a pilot survey on pesticide use on potato production was carried out with data from a databank developed by ProAgria Association of Rural Advisory Centres. Pesticide usage data obtained from this survey is presented in this report. The use rates of pesticides are compared with those estimated by sales statistics. Material and methods The databank of ProAgria Association of Rural Advisory Centres ProAgria Association of Rural Advisory Centres (referred as ProAgria in this report) is an agricultural expert organisation that provides advisory and development services for its members and customers. The agricultural plot databank developed by ProAgria is based on electronic cultivation notes. Farmers record the data on cultivation treatments (sowing, fertilization, plant protection treatments, etc.) on each plot (average plot size hectares) in electronic form, either themselves or in co-operation with advisors of the rural advisory centres, and send the data to the databank. After inspection and validity checking the data is downloaded to the databank. At present the databank is in a development and testing phase. In the future it is possible to have the most important statistical key values of cultivation directly in web-reports from internet. Farmers, who have sent data, can compare their cultivation results with those of other similar farms, and so benchmark

3 possible items to improve their production. More exact and complicated reports will be delivered in annually published summaries both in the internet and in more convenient media. For the present, the data are mainly from farms belonging to different kinds of project groups or production development groups. The material of the survey In the recent years the area under potato production has represented about 1.5% of the cultivated area in Finland. However, potato is interesting as to pesticide use because it is among the crops with the highest pesticides use rates (kg/ha) in Finland. Of the fungicides sold annually in Finland about one third is used for the treatment of potato. Therefore potato was a relevant choice for the crop of the pilot survey. Material containing plotwise data on the cultivation treatments of potato plots was provided for the use of TAPAS project from the agricultural databank of ProAgria. The data containing all cultivation treatments of the plots had originally been collected and loaded to the databank under a research project concerning production costs in potato production. Those parts of the data dealing with the plant protection treatments on potato were downloaded for the survey from the databank to a separate Access database. The data covered plant protection treatments of about 305 potato plots (585 ha) in 2000 and 228 plots (401 ha) in 2001 (Table 1). The plots were from 35 farms in Seventeen of these farms submitted their cultivation data to the databank also in In addition, data from 9 new farms were included in the survey, so that in 2001 the data in the survey originated from 26 farms. The farms were situated in different regions of Finland shown in APPENDIX 2. The division of the area of the survey into three areas representing different cultivation zones is shown in the Table 1. The area of Finland is divided into 5 cultivation zones, based on the climate conditions for plant production in the area. The farms in the survey were situated in the zones 2, 3 and 4. Potato can be produced all over the country, except for the extreme north, but about half of the total potato production area of Finland is situated in Ostrobothnia. Most of the farms in the area 2 and all of those in the area 3 of the survey were situated in Ostrobothnia. In 2000 the total area of the survey represented 1.8% and in % of the potato cultivation area of Finland. In 2000, 47% of the area in the survey was under potato production for food, 43% under production for food industry and 10% under production of starch and seed potatoes as well as under production of early potatoes. In 2001, the proportions of the area in the survey were 49% for food potatoes and 27% for food industry, the rest of the area being for potato production for other uses.

4 Table 1. The area division of the survey Area Total area of the plots (ha) Number of farms Average size of farms Cultivation zone 2000 Area 1 (Häme) Area 2 Area 3 (North Savo and South Ostrobothnia) (Central and North Ostrobothnia) Total Area 1 (Häme) Area 2 *) Area 3 *) (South Ostrobothnia) (Central Ostrobothnia) and 4 Total *) the data from the areas 2 and 3 in 2001 were combined because the area 2 included less than 3 farms The data were used to calculate the average total pesticide use rate (as kg active ingredients per hectare cultivated area) in the potato plots of the survey area. The average total pesticide use rates were calculated in the plots under potato production for different uses as well as in different areas of the survey. The average number of treatments with pesticide products (= formulations) in the survey area was also obtained from the data. Every plot in the survey area received at least one treatment. The treatment frequency was determined for the different potato production types and different areas. In addition, the average use rate of each active ingredient could be calculated from the data on potato production for food and for food industry in the survey. The average use rate of each active ingredient - kg per hectares of cultivated area and kg per hectares of the area treated with the active ingredient - was calculated. Also the proportion of the cultivated area treated with the active ingredient, and the average number of treatments with the active ingredient in the plots treated with the active ingredient were determined. The use of different active ingredients in the plots under potato production for other uses (early potatoes, starch and seed) was not examined in detail due to the scarcity of the data.

5 Results The total use rates of pesticides Pesticides, calculated as active ingredients, were used on the average 5.7 kg per ha of area under potato cultivation in 2000 (Table 2). The total average use rate in potato production for food was 5.3 kg/ha and in production for food industry 6.6 kg/ha. In 2001, active ingredients were used on the average 5.2 kg/ha (Table 3). The rates for potato for food and food industry were 5.1 kg/ha and 6.9 kg/ha, respectively. The average use rate in potato production for other uses (of which about half was production of early potatoes, and the rest production of starch and seed potatoes) was about 3.5 kg/ha both in 2000 and The average use rate of active ingredients was lower in the area 1 than in the areas 2 and 3 (Table 3). In the area 1, the average rate was about 4 kg/ha both in 2000 and 2001, while in the areas 2 and 3 the rate was about 6 kg/ha in 2000 and 7 kg/ha in 2001.The area treated with pesticide products was on the average about seven times the cultivated area both in potato production for food and food industry in 2000 and 2001 (Table 4). The average number of treatments was lower in the area 1 than in the areas 2 and 3 (Table 5). Table 2. The total use rate of pesticides (as active ingredients, a.i./cultivated area) in potato production for different uses Potato production type Total use of active ingredients, kg Cultivated area, ha Use of a.i., kg/ha cultivated area 2000 Food Food industry Other uses *) Total Food Food industry Other uses *) Total *) include potato production for early potatoes, for starch industry and for seed potatoes

6 Table 3. The total use rate of pesticides (as active ingredients, a.i./cultivated area) in potato production in different areas Area Total use of active ingredients, kg Cultivated area, ha Use of a.i, kg/ha cultivated area 2000 Area Area Area Total Area Areas 2 and Total Table 4. The frequency of the treatments with pesticide products in potato production for different uses Potato production type Total area treated with pesticide products (ha) Area under cultivation (ha) Average number of treatments 2000 Food Food industry Other uses*) Total Food Food industry Other uses*) Total *) include potato production for early potatoes, for starch industry and for seed potatoes

7 Table 5. The frequency of the treatments with pesticide products in different areas Area Total area treated with pesticide products (ha) Area under cultivation (ha) Average number of treatments 2000 Area Area Area Total Area Areas 2 and Total

8 The use of different active ingredients The use of different active ingredients in plots used for production of food potatoes and for production of potatoes for food industry was examined. Results are shown in the tables Fungicides accounted for 89%, herbicides 10% and haulm desiccation products 1% of the total volume of active ingredients on the average (Table 6). Most of the use of fungicides was against potato blight. Insecticides were not needed at all. In different active ingredients were used, in 2001 the number was 18. Mancozeb contributed more than 70% to the volume of all the active ingredients used, followed by the fungicides fluazinam and propamocarb hydrochloride, both accounting for less than 10% of the total volume of all the active ingredients. Terbutryn and linuron were the most used herbicides by volume. Both of them represented less than 5% of the total volume of all the active ingredients. Manozeb was used on the average 4.5 kg per ha cultivated area in 2000 and 4.1 kg/ha in The use rate of fluazinam was 0.5 kg/ha and that of propamocarb hydrochloride kg/ha. The use rates of different active ingredients of herbicides were 0.2 kg/ ha or less. Mancozeb and fluazinam were used for the treatment of 89-97% of the total area of potato cultivation for food and food industry (Table 6). On the average about 30% of the area was treated with dimethomorph. The area treated with propamocarb hydrochloride was 18% in 2000 and 32% in About half of the seed potatoes in 2000 and one third in 2001 were treated with flutolanilin. The area treated with the herbicide rimsulfuron was about 40% of the total area. Metribuzin was used in 30 40% of the area and terbutryn and terbutlylazine in 20-30% of the area. Diquat for haulm desiccation was used in 14% of the area in 2000 and in 18% of the area in Mancozeb was used more in the plots under potato production for food industry than in the plots under production for food (Tables 7-10). On the other hand, the use of fluazinam to control potato blight was more common in the area under potato production for food than in the area under production for food industry.

9 Table 6. Use of different active ingredients in potato production for food and food industry in 2000 and 2001 Active ingredients (a.i.) a.i. total, kg a.i. kg/ha cultivated area (525.5 ha) Area treated with a.i. ha % of cultivated area a.i. total, kg a.i. kg/ha cultivated area (303,7 ha) Area treated with a.i.. ha % of cultivated area Fungicides Mancozeb Fluazinam Propamocarb hydrochloride Dimethomorph Flutolanilin Metalaxyl M Tolclofos-methyl Iprodione Total Herbicides Linuron Terbutryn Terbuthylazine Metribuzin Aclonifen Fluazifop-P-butyl Glufosinate-ammonium Rimsulfuron Propaquizafop Quizalofop-P-ethyl Total Haulm desiccation Diquat Total

10 Table 7. Use of different active ingredients in food potato production in 2000 Active ingredients (a.i.) a.i. total, kg a.i. kg/ha cultivated Area treated with a.i. area *) ha % of cultivated area Number of treatments **) a.i. kg/ha treated area Fungicides Mancozeb Fluazinam Propamocarb hydrochloride Dimethomorph Flutolanilin Metalaxyl-M Total Herbicides Terbutryn Linuron Metribuzin Terbuthylazine Aclonifen Fluazifop-P-butyl Propaquizafop Glufosinate ammonium Rimsulfuron Total Haulm desiccation Diquat Total *) cultivated area ha **) average number of treatments with the active ingredient in the area treated with the a.i.

11 Table 8. Use of active ingredients in potato production for food industry in 2000 Active ingredients (a.i.) a.i. total, kg a.i. kg/ha cultivated area *) Area treated with a.i. Number of treatments **) a.i. kg/ha treated area ha % of cultivated area Fungicides Mancozeb Fluazinam Propamocarb hydrochloride Dimethomorph Flutolanilin Metalazxyl-M Total Herbicides Linuron Terbutryn Terbuthylazine Metributzin Fluazifop-P-butyl Glufosinate-ammonium Rimsulfuron Total Haulm desiccation Diquat Total *) cultivated area ha **) average number of treatments with the active ingredient in the area treated with the a.i.

12 Table 9. Use of active ingredients in potato production for food in 2001 Active ingredients (a.i.) a.i. total, kg a.i. kg/ha Area treated with a.i. cultivated area *) ha % of cultivated area Number of a.i. kg/ha treatments treated area **) Fungicides Mancozeb Fluazinam Propamocarb hydrochloride Flutolanilin Dimethomorph Metalaxyl-M Iprodione Tolclofos-methyl Total Herbicides Terbutryn Aclonifen Linuron Terbuthylazine Metribuzin Quizalofop-p-ethyl Glufosinate ammonium Propaquizafop Rimsulfuron Total Haulm desiccation Diquat Total *) cultivated area ha **) average number of treatments with the active ingredient in the area treated with the a.i.

13 Table 10. Use of active ingredients in potato production for food industry in 2001 Active ingredients (a.i.) a.i. total, kg a.i. kg/ha cultivated area *) Area treated with a.i. ha % of cultivated area Number of treatments **) a.i. kg/ha treated area Fungicides Mancozeb Propamocarb hydrochloride Fluazinam Dimethomorph Tolclofos-methyl Flutolanilin Iprodione Total Herbicides Terbutryn Linuron Terbuthylazine Metribuzin Propaquizafop Rimsulfuron Total Haulm desiccation Diquat Total *) cultivated area ha **) average number of treatments with the active ingredient in the area treated with the a.i.

14 The use of pesticides estimated by using sales statistics Use rates of certain active ingredients of pesticides approved to be used in potato production were estimated by using sales statistics. The total sales values of the active ingredients in Finland in 2000 and 2001 were divided by the total potato cultivation area to obtain the average use rates of the active ingredients (kg/ha cultivated area) (Table 11). The estimated average use rates of fungicides were somewhat lower than those found in the survey. The estimated use rates of the herbicides, which are approved only for use in potato production, were at about the same level with those obtained in the survey. The estimated use rates of the active ingredients in those herbicide products also approved for other uses than potato (linuron and metribuzin) were higher than those in the survey, as could be expected. Table 11. The comparison of estimated use rates of certain fungicides and herbicides approved for use on potato (sales values of the active ingredient (kg) / area (ha) under potato cultivation) in Finland in 2000 and 2001 and the average total use rates calculated from the data obtained from the survey Active ingredient (a.i.) Sales 2000, kg Estimated use in 2000 (kg/ha) **) Use rate in the survey in 2000 (kg/ha) ***) Sales 2001, kg Estimated use in 2001 (kg/ha ) **) Use rate in the survey in 2001 (kg/ha) ***) Fungicides Dimethomorph Fluazinam Flutolanil Mancozeb Metalaxyl-M Propamocarb hydrochloride Tolclofos-methyl Herbicides Linuron *) Metribuzin *) Rimsulfuron Terbutryn Terbuthylazine *) the product approved also for use on certain other crops **) kg/ha potato cultivation area in Finland (in ha and in ha) ***) average use rate of active ingredients, kg/ha cultivated area in the plots under potato production for food and food industry in the survey In addition, the area that could be treated with a certain active ingredient was estimated by using the total sales values and the average recommended use dose (kg/ha) of one treatment. The estimation was made for two fungicides (fluazinam and mancozeb) and two

15 herbicides (rimsufuron and terbutryn). The proportion of the cultivated area that could be treated with each active ingredient was then calculated. The estimated proportion of the area treated with rimsulfuron corresponded well with the proportion of the treated area found in the survey (Table 12). The fungicides, especially mancozeb, were used more in the plots of the survey than could be estimated from the sales statistics. The total potato cultivation area of Finland could be treated on the average 1.5 times with mancozeb and times with fluazinam, as estimated from the sales values. In the survey, the average number of treatments with mancozeb was 2-4 and with fluazinam Table 12. The proportion (%) of the total area under potato cultivation treated with certain pesticides approved for use on potato production, as estimated by using the sales statistics and as calculated from the data on the survey Active ingredients The area treated with the active ingredient, as % of the total area under potato cultivation Estimated from sales statistics From the survey Potato for food Potato for food industry Estimated from sales statistics From the survey Potato for food Potato for food industry Fluazinam Mancozeb Rimsufuron Terbutryn Conclusions The pilot survey carried out during the TAPAS actions 2001 and 2002 provided additional information on the use of pesticides in potato production in Finland. The average pesticide use rates in potato production for food industry in the TAPAS survey were somewhat higher than those found in the study conducted by MTT Agrifood Research Finland (Laitinen et al. 2000). In the survey of MTT the average use rate in chip potato production during was 5.1 kg/ha, the rate being highest in 1993 (6.8 kg/ha). In the TAPAS survey the average rate for potato production for food industry was 6.6 kg/ha in 2000 and 6.9 kg/ha in 2001, while the rate for potato production for food was lower, about kg/ha. In potato production for the use of food industry pesticides can be assumed to be used more than in the potato production on the average, due to the strict requirements for the quality of the crop. Information on pesticide use has also been collected as a part of the MYTVAS project (Monitoring the Impacts of Agri-Environmental Support Scheme) (Seppälä 1999). In this study the farms were not specialized in potato production, as in the TAPAS survey and in the study carried out by MTT, but represented different farming sectors. The average pesticide use rates in in potato plots in four different areas varied between 0 and 4 kg/ha.

16 Although the average total use rate of active ingredients was lower in the production of food potatoes than in the production of potatoes for food industry, the average number of treatments with pesticide products was about the same for both potato production types. The discrepancy can be explained by the choice of different pesticides for controlling potato blight: in the areas under potato production for food industry mancozeb was chosen more often than fluazinam, while in the areas under food potato production the number fluazinam treatments was greater than the number of mancozeb treatments. The dose of mancozeb per one treatment is about kg/ha, while the dose of fluazinam is about 0.2 kg/ha. Thus one treatment with mancozeb gives 1-2 kg higher use rate per hectare than a treatment with fluazinam. Accordigly, a treatment with rimsulfuron containing herbicide results in a much lower amount of active ingredients per hectare than the use of products containing terbutryn and terbutylazine or linuron. Slight regional differences in the use of pesticides were found in the survey. Both the average use rate and the treatment frequency were lower in Häme than in Ostrobothnia. In Ostrobothnia, especially in potato production for food industry, the plots received more treatments with mancozeb than the plots in Häme, explaining the higher use rates per hectare in Ostrobothnia. The production of early potatoes, with a small demand for pesticide use, was concentrated in Häme, affecting the number of pesticide treatments needed. Regional variation in weather conditions may also make different demands for controlling potato blight, and thus influence on the number of treatments needed. Sales statistics provide useful data for estimating the average use rates of pesticides and the average area that can be treated with certain active ingredients. In this survey the use rates and the proportion of area treated with fungicides were mostly somewhat higher than those estimated using sales statistics.this was expected, because the values obtained in the survey represented rather the use of pesticides in specialized potato cultivation than the use in potato cultivation on the average. In Finland pesticide sales statistics has been publishad annually since However, there have not been resources enough to collect pesticide usage data regularly by any authorities or research institutes. A thorough revision of the legislation on plant protection products is ongoing in Finland and one of the subjects planned to be incorporated in the new legislation concerns the maintenance of the pesticide database by Plant Production Inspection Centre (KTTK). This obligation would provide more resources to KTTK to be focused on pesticide statistics. Surveys conducted to obtain information on pesticide use have shown that farmers are often not willing to complete questionnaires, and the response rates remain usually considerably low. In order to get environmental subsidies, the farmers must make cultivation notes including the plant protection treatments carried out in each plot. At present an increasing proportion of the farmers have their cultivation notes in electronic form and this tendency can be expected to continue. Therefore, the agricultural plot databank of ProAgria is a promising system to collect information on cultivation treatments, with mutual advantages both to the farmers and to the advisory services and to the purposes of research. Information on pesticide use could be obtained as a by-product, without additional effort made by the farmers. During the TAPAS project the methods to download the data from the databank to separate databases, to check the validity and to analyse the data were developed and are available for possible use in the future.

17 Summary During the TAPAS 2001 (Technical Action Plan for improving Agricultural Statistics) a pilot survey on the use of pesticides in potato production was conducted using the data provided from the agricultural plot databank of ProAgria Association of Rural Advisory Centres. The objective of the TAPAS 2002 was to analyse the data obtained from the databank and compare the use rates with those estimated by using pesticide sales statistics. The total potato cultivation area investigated was 585 ha in 2000 and 401ha in The area included mainly plots under potato production for food and food industry. The average total use rate of pesticides (calculated as active ingredients) and the average number of treatments with pesticide products were examined in three different areas representing different cultivation zones. In addition, use of each active ingredient was examined in potato production for food and food industry. The total average use rate of pesticides (as active ingredients) was 5.7 kg/ha in 2000 and 5.2 kg/ha in The rates were lower in the production for food than in the production for food industry. Fungicides accounted for 89%, herbicides for 9% and haulm desiccation products 1% of the total use of active ingredients. Insecticides were not used at all. Mancozeb and fluazinam were the most commonly used active ingredients of fungicides. The use rates of herbicide linuron, terbutryn, metribuzin and terbuthylazine were among the highest use rates of herbicides, while rimsulfuron was the most used herbicide as to the area treated with the active ingredients. Slight regional differences in the use of pesticides were found. Both the average use rate and the treatment frequency were lower in Häme than in Ostrobothnia in this survey. The use rates of fungicides in the survey were mostly somewhat higher than the rates estimated from the data on sold quantities of pesticides. This was expected, because most of the farms in the survey were specialized in potato production. Although pesticide sales statistics provide useful data for estimating the average use of pesticides, surveys on pesticide usage are needed to supplement the information in order to give a more exact picture of the use of pesticides on different crops and different regions. References Laitinen, P., Lejonqvist, M., Rämö, S., Welling, L., Ojanen, H. and Hannukkala A Torjunta-aineiden käyttö lastu- ja tärkkelysperunan tuotannossa. Maatalouden tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja. Sarja A.81. Savela, M.-L., Hynninen, E.-L. and Blomqvist, H Pesticide sales in Finland in Kemia-Kemi 29(6): Seppälä, T Torjunta-aineiden käyttö maatalouden ympäristötukitiloilla. Suomen Ympäristökeskuksen moniste 149.

18 APPENDIX 1. SALES OF PESTICIDES AS ACTIVE INGREDIENTS IN FINLAND Active ingredients, tonnes TOTAL Herbicides Insecticides Fungicides Year

19 APPENDIX 2. The ProAgria Rural Advisory Centres of Finland (18) are shown in the map. The farms in the survey were situated in the areas marked with the representative area number.

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