State and prospects of intensity and risk of pesticide application in sugar beet cultivation in Germany

Authors

  • Heinrich Reineke Institut für Zuckerrübenforschung an der Universität Göttingen, Holtenser Landstraße 77, 37079 Göttingen
  • Jörn Strassemeyer Julius Kühn-Institut – Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen, Institut für Strategien und Folgenabschätzung, Stahnsdorfer Damm 81, 14532 Kleinmachnow
  • Nicol Stockfisch Institut für Zuckerrübenforschung an der Universität Göttingen, Holtenser Landstraße 77, 37079 Göttingen
  • Bernward Märländer Institut für Zuckerrübenforschung an der Universität Göttingen, Holtenser Landstraße 77, 37079 Göttingen

Keywords:

Treatment frequency, treatment index, national action plan, SYNOPS, environmental effects, active ingredient amount

Abstract

To reduce the risk of pesticide use, information on the intensity and risk of pesticide applications in commercial farms is required. This study refers to the pesticide use in sugar beet cultivation. The data base was a survey on the cultivation in 2004 on 109 farms with 285 fields. The intensity was examined on the basis of the indicators treatment frequency, active ingredient amount and treatment frequency. The risks were analysed with the risk indicator model SYNOPS for worst-case-conditions and for realistic conditions. Rank correlations between the intensity and the risks were calculated to test the influence of the intensity on the risks. Additionally, the intensity and the risks were compared between the scenarios “Pesticide use in the 1980s”, “Pesticide use today” and “Cultivation of glyphosate-tolerant varieties”.

Treatment frequency (median: 5.0), active ingredient amount (median: 4535 g ha–1) and treatment frequency (median: 3.1) varied between the fields significantly. Their amounts resulted largely from the use of herbicides. In the comparison between the scenarios the “Pesticide use in the 1980” showed the highest intensity, whereas it was similar for “Pesticide use today” and “Cultivation of glyphosate-tolerant varieties”.

The risk values calculated with SYNOPS remained even for worst-case-conditions to a large extent within the tolerable bounds. For realistic conditions the risk values were almost always within the tolerable bounds. It is therefore to be expected that pesticide use in sugar beet cultivation in accordance with good farming practice does not cause relevant negative effects on the environment. The comparison between the scenarios showed, that the risks of “Pesticide use today” (exclusively tolerable risk values) are significantly lower than the risks of “Pesticide use in the 1980” (partially intolerable risk values).

Significantly positive correlations exist between the indicators of the intensity and the risks. However, the low correlation coefficients (< 0.4) showed that the risks of pesticide use cannot be determined on the basis of the intensity.

DOI: 10.5073/JfK.2014.05.01, https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2014.05.01

Downloads

Published

2014-05-01

Issue

Vol. 66 No. 5 (2014)

Section

Original Article

License

The content of the journal is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Any user is free to share and adapt (remix, transform, build upon) the content as long as the original publication is attributed (authors, title, year, journal, issue, pages).

The copyright of the published work remains with the authors. The authors grant the Journal of Cultivated Plants, the Julius Kühn-Institut and the OpenAgrar repository the non-exclusive right to distribute and exploit the work.