Too much pesticide used: the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine drafts a Plant Physician Act, requiring graduation from a plant pathology-related department to manage pesticides
Yesterday (the 6th), the Council of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine jointly convened the "Third Meeting on Food Safety Communication and Information Exchange with Civil Society Groups" to discuss pesticide application issues and how to establish a plant doctor system. A draft of the "Plant Doctor Act" is currently being studied, and there are plans to promote a national certification examination for plant doctors.
At the meeting, the Ministry of Health and Welfare proposed a full ban on the pesticide paraquat However, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine did not go along with the Ministry of Health and Welfare's proposal. The bureau believes that banning pesticides is useless for reducing the number of suicides, and that paraquat is currently the herbicide that least affects the environment and leaves the least residue. Regarding highly toxic pesticides, the bureau believes that as long as they are diluted at a safe ratio and the safe harvest period is observed, there will be no problem. There was no consensus at today's meeting. The Council of Agriculture announced the top ten field vegetables with the highest pesticide residue failure rates from January to September, respectively: peas (28.1%), semi-heading lettuce (19%), rapeseed (16.7%), common beans (14.8), spinach (13.3%), bok choy (13.3%), cowpea (12.2%), eggplant (11.6%), cucumber (11.4%), and non-heading lettuce (10.5%). The failure rates are on the high side. "Food safety cannot rely solely on pesticide residue testing; guiding farmers to use pesticides correctly is the key point." Tzeng Der-Tsyi, a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at National Chung Hsing University, pointed out that although Taiwan, China currently has a pesticide sales management system, problems such as excessive pesticide spraying, mixed use, and counterfeit pesticides still exist. "Some farmers feel safe only when they spray, and they spray every week, but in fact there is no need for such a large amount of pesticide." Huang Chang-Chang, Director-General of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said that crops will inevitably suffer from pests and diseases during their growth, and farmers must use pesticides for control, but farmers' understanding and usage habits regarding pesticides are poor. "Eighty percent of cases of illegal pesticide use exceed the approved range." In response, Tzeng Der-Tsyi suggested that "a professional license for plant doctors should be established", and that from pesticide registration to recommended application, there should be professional guidance and prescriptions from plant doctors. "With plant doctors guiding pesticide application, pests and diseases are reduced, yields increase, and even the amount of pesticide sprayed will decrease." If Taiwan, China's pesticide use were reduced by half, it could spend NT$4 billion less on buying pesticides. The civil society groups present agreed with running pesticide management personnel and plant doctors in parallel as a buffer measure before the bill is passed, but they also raised doubts about "not comprehensively promoting plant doctor certification": "Can safe pesticide use really be ensured just by pesticide management personnel and relevant course credits?" They further pointed out that it is fundamentally difficult for local authorities to keep track of the class attendance of pesticide management personnel, and they cannot say exactly what the class content is, so they suggested that there should still be professional plant doctors to guide farmers in pesticide application. In response, Huang Chang-Chang said that the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine has kept track of the training status of pesticide management personnel, and "there is absolutely no problem!" Huang Chang-Chang further stated that at present, the quality of pesticide shops is indeed uneven, but if the quality of pesticide management personnel is raised in the future, farmers will be able to obtain pesticide prescriptions and application methods directly from pesticide shops.Plant Pathology Professor: Farmers generally use too much pesticide
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