Herbicide spraying on adzuki beans 10"Is opening up glufosinate for farmers' good? COA holds local forums, and the general managers of farmers' associations in all five major adzuki bean producing areas do not support it

At ten o'clock this morning (the 20th), the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine of the Council of Agriculture held a "Forum on the Use of Glufosinate as a Desiccant for Adzuki Bean Plants" at the Wandan Township Office in Pingtung County. More than 120 adzuki bean farmers attended throughout, and the general managers of five farmers' associations were also personally present: Wandan Township, Xinyuan Township, Kanding Township, and Pingtung City in Pingtung County, as well as the Daliao District Farmers' Association in Kaohsiung City.

The policy of using glufosinate as a defoliant faces its greatest test; the COA held local forums, and farmers' associations in all five major producing areas do not support it

A total of 16 people registered to speak, and only 2 supported the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine opening up glufosinate as a desiccant for adzuki bean plants; the remaining 14, including the general managers of farmers' associations in the five major producing areas, all stated their opposition. Some worried it would deal a blow to the industry's development, while others believed it would undermine consumers' confidence in domestically produced adzuki beans. In response, Zou Huijuan, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, repeatedly said that the government held the forum to report to farmers on the necessity of opening up glufosinate, and also hoped to listen more to opinions from the producing areas.

The Wandan Township Farmers' Association was the first to raise objections, and the various farmers' associations then expressed their positions one after another. The policy of using glufosinate as a defoliant faces its greatest test

To show respect for the producing areas, Zou Huijuan, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, explained everything to the farmers in Taiwanese throughout. She said that the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station had previously sought to understand farmers' field needs and continued conducting related trials in October of year 106 and February of year 107 of the Republic of China calendar, and only after the trial results were assessed by the Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute was the residue standard sent to the Ministry of Health and Welfare for announcement. Recently, the government has indeed heard different opinions, so it specifically came to the producing areas to listen to farmers' views.

After the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine gave a briefing to the farmers, Zhang Zhilie, general manager of the Wandan Township Farmers' Association, was the first to raise objections. He said: "When the government wanted to ban the herbicide paraquat at the end of 2016, did the government respect our opinions? Now it wants to open up glufosinate as a defoliant for adzuki beans, yet says this is farmers' demand!"

Zhang Zhilie stressed that agricultural products are meant to be sold to consumers, and if there are food safety concerns, or even if the adzuki bean purchase price collapses as a result, "has the government thought about how serious this is?" Guo Hongwei, general manager of the Kanding Township Farmers' Association, also believed that "when farmers look up information, they see that glufosinate has reproductive toxicity problems. We hope the government understands that taking care of farmers' health is the top priority, and consumer rights must also be protected."

The general managers of the Xinyuan Township Farmers' Association and the Pingtung City Farmers' Association both do not express support

Lin Cuirong, general manager of the Xinyuan Township Farmers' Association, said that the alternatives after a full ban on paraquat really find it very difficult to have the same effect as paraquat. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine says it wants to open up glufosinate to give farmers one more option for harvesting adzuki beans, and this is a good thing. "But, good as it may be, will farmers dilute it according to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine's instructions? The senior farmers are all here, so everyone think about it: if some adzuki beans are a bit greener, would they mix the concentration a little higher? I have doubts about this."

Regarding the problem of end-point management, Wu Taiyi, general manager of the Pingtung City Farmers' Association, was also deeply worried. He said: "If the government insists on announcing its use, I hope end-point risk management must be done well, and it must be clearly written on the pesticide that there is a risk to infants, young children, and pregnant women."

The COA turned out in force to lobby; farmers: one more choice is also one more risk

To strengthen communication with farmers, the COA mobilized key policy-promoting units to attend, including the deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine along with the Plant Protection Division, the Applied Toxicology Division of the Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, and the Southern Region Branch of the Agriculture and Food Agency. Cai Weiren, head of the Applied Toxicology Division of the Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, said that in all animal experiments, problems are seen only at very high doses, just like the salt people eat every day: if you eat a lot every day, of course problems will arise.

Cai Weiren stressed, "For all pesticides, the government will carry out safety checks, and we especially hope consumers understand that the amount we set is calculated only after dividing by one hundred times; that is to say, the amount the public normally comes into contact with is very, very low."

Xiao Chenglong, leader of the third class of the miscellaneous grains (adzuki bean) production and marketing group of the Meinong District Farmers' Association in Kaohsiung City, believed that consumers already have trust in Wandan and Meinong adzuki beans. After the ban on paraquat, a certain brand image had finally been built up with great difficulty. "Now if glufosinate is really opened up, as soon as consumers hear about it, they'll be scared to death!"

The Meinong District Farmers' Association, which has promoted harvesting adzuki beans without herbicides for six years already, believed that harvesting adzuki beans does not necessarily require glufosinate. Zhong Wenfu, an agricultural extension officer, said that whether it is paraquat or glufosinate, the Meinong Farmers' Association has completely banned herbicides for harvesting adzuki beans. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine says opening up glufosinate is one more choice, "but one more choice is also one more risk."

He also conveyed the written opinion of Zhu Zhengfu, leader of the fourth class of the association's miscellaneous grains (adzuki bean) production and marketing group: "Under the policy of halving chemical pesticides in ten years, paraquat has already been banned. Now if the use of glufosinate as a defoliant for adzuki beans is expanded, it will only add to consumers' doubts."