Switzerland draws up strategy for better crop protection

FOAG publishes strategy for better crop protection Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has drawn up a strategy to better cultivate vegetables, pulses and fruit in the face of new pressures.

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This is due to various increasing difficulties such as the withdrawal of authorisations of pesticide active ingredients, the lack of alternative control methods and the appearance of new harmful organisms. In this context, the federal government has drawn up a strategy to improve the situation, which should be fully implemented from 2030.

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The Strategy for Sustainable Crop Protection was presented by the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). Federal officials are aiming for increasing sustainability in the Swiss primary sector, with the aim in particular of reducing the risks associated with the use of pesticides.

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In approving an interim report on May 8, 2024, the Federal Council, confirmed that “the situation regarding crop protection has deteriorated in recent years and that there is an urgent need to close existing gaps and prevent foreseeable ones.”

The challenges, which are most acute for certain plant products, are related both to the means offered by integrated crop protection (IP, a strategy that combines preventive, biological and physical methods to control pests and diseases, using synthetic chemicals only in a targeted manner) and the emergence of pests, diseases and weeds that are difficult to control.

Food security

All these problems also pose a risk in terms of decreasing self-sufficiency rates and food security management.

It is these findings that have prompted the FOAG, in collaboration with interested parties, primarily farmers, to draw up the ten-point strategy presented.

The aims is to create a national platform for monitoring the status of protection options. Action will be taken to develop a network of competencies for the coordination and development of solutions and to introduce a demonstration network to promote new measures in practice; to promote robust varieties; to further develop classical biological control; to optimise application techniques that reduce the risks associated with the use of pesticides; and to simplify the approval procedure for plant protection products.

Some of the ten measures are under development or already implemented (e.g. the measures on the approval of pesticides); others have to be developed from scratch.

Strengthen plant production

They all contribute to the overall objectives of current and future agricultural policy and will serve as guidelines for strengthening plant production, ensuring healthy foodstuffs and preserving natural resources.

By incorporating them into the development of agricultural policy in the 2030 time horizon (PA30+), it should be possible to fully implement them from 2030 onwards.

The successful implementation of the strategy will depend on the one hand on the interest and participation of all stakeholders, in particular the commitment of associations, researchers, industry and agriculture.

On the other hand, the concrete implementation of the measures will require additional resources and legal adjustments, the FOAG states in the publication.

Adapted from Italian with AI/mga

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