The official farmers' advisory body, the AHDB, is running a trial of glyphosate-free farming, while vegetable growers have been warned about the dangerous consequences of their over-reliance on pesticides.
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is a statutory organisation, funded by levies raised from farmers and others in the supply chain, to provide evidence-based advice to growers.
It has announced that it is running an experiment at one of its 'monitor farms' to farm without glyphosate for three years.
Glyphosate, the world's most widely-used weed killer, was last year classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a probable human carcinogen. The EU subsequently relicensed its use, but on a restricted basis. The AHDB experiment suggests that the industry is taking seriously the possibility that it may have to re-learn to farm without this chemical. According to the report in Farming Online, the farmer conducting the trial commented, 'This is how my father would have farmed'. Read the full story here.
Meanwhile the vegetable growers' trade magazine Horticulture Week reported an expert's view that over-reliance on crop-protection chemicals has created a situation 'analogous to the growth of antibiotic resistance in human health'. Read more about this here and find out more here about Sustain's campaigning work for a greener, fairer food system.
Published Friday 11 November 2016
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
