EU farm organizations are signaling a potential "complete deadlock" at the EU level unless the European Commission makes more crop protection substances and methods available. According to Copa Cogeca, representing EU farm organizations and agricultural cooperatives, certain fruit, vegetable, and crop sector farms have ceased production. The organization highlighted that the issue rarely makes headlines, yet it causes frustration among farmers.
Copa Cogeca noted potential crop failures of up to 50% in sectors like sugar beet and rapeseed without immediate plant protection solutions, with specialized sectors projecting losses up to 80%. At the "European level, what used to be the exception is now rapidly becoming the norm," Copa stated.
The number of available active plant protection ingredients has decreased from 900 to 422 since 2001, with 85 substances lost since 2019 and no new conventional replacements approved, according to Copa. The group's example of potato blight illustrates current threats: "Even today, late blight, the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine, continues to threaten crops." Copa warned, "Without immediate action, potato yields could drop by 50%, threatening not just farmers' livelihoods but European food security and sovereignty."
The organization urged adopting a 'no ban without alternatives' principle from the EU Vision for the Future of Agriculture. Copa has outlined principles for the European Commission: fair cost-benefit analyses for authorizing products; speeding alternative method authorization; supporting farmer transitions; and strengthening EU trade standards. "On this issue, as on many others in the agricultural field, Europe is playing for its future," said Copa, emphasizing pragmatic decisions and dialogue.
Source: Agriland
