Solving pesticide problems for vegetable growers
The selective use of pesticides to control pests, weeds and disease plays an important role in increasing production, improving the quality of Australia's vegetable crops and enabling growers to earn reasonable returns on their investments. Today's health conscious society is also extremely sensitive to chemical use and it's essential that they are protected by adequate regulations governing the use of agrochemicals.
In Australia, before an agrochemical product can be sold or used, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines (APVMA) must register it first. For a manufacturer to register a product they are required to submit a comprehensive data package to the APVMA. The costs for generating and collating such data are high and unfortunately many vegetable crops are too small individually for agrochemical manufacturers to bear the high cost of registering products for use.
Vegetable growers are often placed in situations where they risk severe crop losses from pests, weeds and disease if they do nothing to protect their crops. But they risk buyers rejecting their produce and other penalties if they are detected using products that are not registered.
The APVMA's National Permit System adds some flexibility to the registration process. It legalises the minor use of products for purposes not specified on the product label. However, off-label permits issued by the APVMA still must be applied for, along with data that verifies that the permit use will be effective and will not have any harmful effects on humans, the crops or the environment.
Agaware Consulting Pty Ltd was appointed in 2003/04 to solve minor use problems for vegetable growers and to help them gain legal access to agrochemicals via permits and registrations. This management of a minor use program was on behalf of the vegetable industry through the National Vegetable Levy and Horticulture Australia Ltd (HAL).
In 2004/05, this involved the establishment of an across industry horticulture minor use coordinator contract with HAL
The main functions of AgAware Consulting Pty Ltd are to evaluate minor use proposals, design data generation processes in support of permit applications, coordinate permit applications and liaise with the APVMA and growers.
Vegetable growers are encouraged to become involved in the minor-use permit project by;
- Accessing the chemicals they may require or would like to have access to in the production of each of their various crops.
- Determining which chemicals are registered and which are not.
- Submitting a request for a minor use permit for those products that are not registered to AgAware Consulting through their local Industry Development Officer (IDO) or Department of Agriculture Extension Officer.
- AgAware Consulting will then obtain the permit or registration.
For further information please email info@ausveg.com.au
Current at 8 November 2007
*Note: Even if a minor-use chemical is approved for use in your state or territory, further restrictions may apply. Please visit the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website at www.apvma.gov.au to download the relevant permit and check for all other conditions before using on your crops.
Related downloads:
Provided by Peter Dal Santo, AgAware Consulting Pty Ltd
For more information on the minor use list contact:
Peter Dal Santo: pds@agaware.com.au
 |
You will need Version 4 or later of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF documents.
You can get the latest version from the Adobe Website. Click here to download free. |
|
