The crop chem and seed company announced Friday it will have a “limited amount” of its lambda-cy-based products Matador 120EC and Voliam Xpress available in the West in time for the 2023 growing season, but “with a focus on horticulture and pulse crops.”

The products will also still be available in Eastern Canada, with “a focus on horticulture crops.”

The company has issued revised labels for those products effective Saturday (April 29), in line with new rules from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).

PMRA’s re-evaluation decision for lambda-cyhalothrin — published April 29, 2021, to take effect 24 months from that date — requires that crops treated with the chemical must not be fed to, or grazed by, livestock in Canada — and that includes any harvested grain, screenings, hay, forage, silage, byproducts or aftermath.

Thus, on top of its other label-approved uses, the new Matador label provides for the product’s use in crops such as wheat, oats, barley, canola, corn (field, sweet and popping), soybeans, alfalfa, timothy, apples, carrots, potatoes, beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils and fava beans — but it specifically prohibits each of those crops from then being fed to livestock.

The new Voliam Express label, among other approved uses, also still allows for the product’s use in crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, soybeans, corn, canola, flax and mustard — but also specifically prohibits each of those crops’ subsequent use as feed.

Duane Johnson, head of sales for Syngenta Canada, said the company’s focus on pulse and hort crops for lambda-cy in Western Canada this year is based on available statistics and discussions with industry associations, which suggest the “majority” of horticulture and pulse crops go to human consumption.

However, “it’s important to note that screenings of pulse crops that were treated with lambda-cyhalothrin cannot be used as feed,” Anna Shulkin, head of crop protection regulatory and stewardship matters for Syngenta Canada, said in that company’s release Friday. “We have been sure to communicate the label restrictions and will continue to do so.”

Syngenta, Johnson said, wants “to ensure we are supporting as many growers as possible during the upcoming growing season in protecting their crops from forecasted pest pressure while being compliant with the label’s feed restrictions.”

Growers should review the new labels and are “encouraged to consult with commodity associations” prior to using lambda-cy products, Syngenta said.

‘Use responsibly’

Syngenta’s move is a step back from the decision it announced last fall to not sell any lambda-cy products at all in Western Canada for the 2023 season. A company representative said last November it had made that decision to “avoid any confusion and to support 2023 business planning with our customers.”

Adama Canada, which also markets lambda-cy under the names Silencer and Zivata, undertook a similar recall to update its product labels. Adama had said in November it wasn’t sure it would have those products available in Western Canada for 2023.

But Adama last month announced it would bring back those products, with revised labels to meet the new PMRA requirements. The company said in March it has “confidence in our retail partners to provide good advice to growers and we trust growers themselves to use the product responsibly and within permitted guidelines.”

Shulkin noted Friday that Syngenta’s September 2021 submission to PMRA, seeking reinstatement of “as many of the livestock grain feed uses as possible” for its lambda-cy products, is still under review at that agency.

Syngenta, she said, “will continue to support this submission until completed.”

PMRA’s 2021 re-evaluation decision also cancels lambda-cy products’ use on bulb vegetables, lettuce and condiment mustard, as well as any oilseeds other than flax, canola, rapeseed and oilseed mustard.

‘Unmanageable’

PMRA’s decision has seen crop commodity groups scramble to advise growers on alternative pest controls or other chemistries wherever they exist, but also warn that the decision will leave other growers in a tight spot this season.

SaskBarley, for one, has said the required label change “results in an unmanageable risk mitigation option as many crops are grown for both food and feed, with no segregation by food or feed in our bulk grain handling system.”

Grain Farmers of Ontario also noted there “currently is no process in place to divert harvested crops from livestock feed end-users,” meaning any lambda-cy applications on edible beans, grains and oilseeds “may be considered an off-label use.”

The Manitoba Crop Alliance had noted that for sunflower growers in that province, Matador was until now the lone insecticide control for lygus bug, leaving “no current chemical options.”

The group and the provincial ag department said they would work with industry to see if an emergency use registration would be possible for the 2023 growing season. Seeking a full label expansion rather than an emergency use for any product not now registered for use on sunflowers would be an “extensive” process, the MCA said.

The provincial agriculture ministers from Saskatchewan and Alberta in February wrote to their federal health and agriculture counterparts, urging them to encourage the PMRA to reconsider.

“It is possible for the PMRA to enact an emergency reinstatement of the product’s use to ensure our farmers can use it for the coming growing season and give it time to make a more informed decision, but we would need that immediately,” David Marit and Nate Horner said in a statement at the time. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The company had said last November it wasn’t yet sure those products would be available this year under an approaching deadline following a 2021 re-evaluation of lambda-cy by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).

The PMRA’s re-evaluation decision cancelled the product’s uses on all feed crops, condiment-type mustard, bulb vegetables, lettuce and some oilseeds effective 24 months from its decision date, thus setting a deadline of April 29, 2023.

The list of affected oilseed crops does not include canola/rapeseed, flax or oilseed mustard — but the ruling would prohibit those crops’ use as livestock feed.

Adama said Wednesday its decision to relabel the products “comes after several months of consulting with retailers, farmers and industry organizations on the implications” of the PMRA re-evaluation.

“After a great deal of discussion and consideration, we have confidence in our retail partners to provide good advice to growers and we trust growers themselves to use the product responsibly and within permitted guidelines,” Adama Canada general manager Cornie Thiessen said in a release.

“The bottom line for growers is to read the labeling guidelines carefully. Talk to your full-service input retailer and to your crop buyers so you can make an informed decision about if and when to apply the product.”

Adama had said in November the cancellation of lambda-cy’s use on crops destined for feed was especially raising red flags for farmers, who “have questioned whether it is feasible to use the product at all considering how difficult it is to trace where crops will be used after they leave the farm.”

READ MORE:

• How to manage without lambda-cyhalothrin in 2023
• Farmers discuss how lambda-cyhalothrin regulation changes will affect them in 2023
• Insecticide restriction pushes growers to older chemistries

Lambda-cy is a Group 3 synthetic pyrethroid contact insecticide used to control a broad range of pests at their small larvae nymph and adult stages.

Other products affected by the PMRA’s ruling include Syngenta’s insecticides Matador, Voliam Xpress, Endigo, Warrior and Demand CS, Intervet Canada’s Saber pour-on and ear tag products and Sharda Cropchem’s Labamba insecticide.

Syngenta, like Adama, launched a product recall to “amend existing labels” ahead of the April 29, 2023 deadline.

However, Syngenta also said in November it has decided not to sell lambda-cy products at all in Western Canada in 2023, though it will continue to sell Matador in “horticultural markets” in Eastern Canada.

Syngenta said via email that decision was meant “to avoid any confusion and to support 2023 business planning with our customers.”

It also said it had filed a submission to PMRA seeking reinstatement of as many livestock feed crop uses as possible and “will continue to support this submission until completed.”

Provincial agriculture ministers from Saskatchewan and Alberta last month also called for PMRA to reconsider its re-evaluation decision, saying it “leaves farmers with one fewer tool to address potentially destructive pests.”

Grasshoppers, in particular, are likely to be a significant concern again this year following “continued drought” in parts of those provinces, ministers David Marit and Nate Horner said in a statement.

The PMRA decision “could also mean the inability for canola producers to sell their products as livestock feed, which could impact availability for cattle and lamb producers,” the ministers said.

Horner and Marit said they have written to the federal health and agriculture ministers urging them to encourage the PMRA to reconsider.

“It is possible for the PMRA to enact an emergency reinstatement of the product’s use to ensure our farmers can use it for the coming growing season and give it time to make a more informed decision, but we would need that immediately,” the ministers said.

“With extreme flea beetle pressure, hotspots for grasshoppers and cutworms across the Prairies and forecasted outbreaks, the lambda-cyhalothrin decision could severely impact our yields, our livelihoods, feedstocks and food prices,” Alberta Canola chair Roger Chevraux and SaskCanola chair Keith Fournier said in the provinces’ joint release on Feb. 24.

“Lambda-cyhalothrin has a significant market share, and it will strain farmers to source alternative products.”

Noting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not imposed similar restrictions on lambda-cy use, the canola grower commission chairs said PMRA “needs to base its decisions on sound science and be aligned with our largest trading partner.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Neonicotinoids are a widely used class of insecticides available since the 1990s. Concerns about their environmental impact emerged in the early 2000s, when studies showed they caused harm to honeybees and other pollinators. These findings led to calls for stricter regulations on use of neonics, with some regions, most notably the European Union, banning their use.

“The European Union basically put a gun to their rapeseed farmers’ heads and said ‘we’re taking away the neonicotinoid treatments’,” said Tyler Wist, an entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, speaking at Manitoba Ag Days Jan. 19.

There are few alternatives to control flea beetles, and those that do exist have their own issues.

In 2013, the EU placed a moratorium on use of neonics in agriculture: no seed treatments, no soil applications and no foliar applications.

Wist said the ban, specifically in terms of seed treatments, made little sense.

“It’s only the insects that are feeding on the plants that are getting dosed by that insecticide. None of our beneficial insects are eating the insecticide,” he said.

“It’s very targeted. You’ve got a tiny amount of active ingredient going into the plant, and by the time that plant is flowering, there’s really no active ingredient left in the plant. It made no sense to me that they thought they were getting dosed from neonics from this tiny amount.”

In 2017, an assessment of the economic and environmental costs of the seed treatment moratorium was published in the journal HFFA Research GmbH, indicating the ban was more costly than many expected.

The paper’s author, Steffen Noleppa, combined data from 13 studies done on the (mainly agronomic) impact of the ban’s effect on oilseed rape production in the EU.

Not only was there significant yield loss (about 900,000 tonnes annually) and economic impact (more than US$1 billion per year in revenue losses and other impacts), but the ban also had limited environmental benefit.

“Not applying a… neonicotinoid treatment may have some positive implications, but definitely causes much more negative disturbances,” Noleppa wrote in the executive summary.

The environmental issues included increased CO2 emissions and water consumption because seed treatments were replaced with foliar treatments of insecticides that don’t contain neonics. Also, the alternative insecticides kill other insects, including pollinators, and the lost acres of flowering plants due to crop degradation also meant less food for pollinators.

On top of that, flea beetles began developing resistance to foliar sprays used for insect control (mostly pyrethroids).

While Wist acknowledged that flea beetles could also become resistant to neonics, it hasn’t happened yet.

Despite these findings, the EU ban was made permanent in 2018 and expanded to include all outdoor uses of the three most widely used neonicotinoids: imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam.

“When a moratorium like this happens in another country, it triggers other countries to start looking at those kinds of things as well,” said Wist.

In August 2018, citing “unacceptable risk to aquatic invertebrates,” Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency proposed banning all outdoor use of seed treatments that use clothianidin and thiamethoxam. Had that ban been imposed, those products would not have been available in 2024.

But studies done in 2019 showed little of the chemicals got into waterways, and even in samples where neonics were found, levels weren’t at the threshold considered dangerous.

So, at least until the next review, those seed treatments remain available to farmers.

From Wist’s perspective, that’s good because there aren’t many alternatives available, and foliar sprays are time-consuming and difficult to manage.

“You need to be doing daily counting because damage can occur quickly,” he said.

Wist also pointed to human health issues caused by drift associated with foliar spraying, “and you’re going to get drift into water bodies in much higher concentrations.

“Then, of course, near and dear to my heart is the harm to the beneficial insects. Synthetic pyrethroid sprays are toxic to ground beetles for one week after spraying. You want to protect this unseen army in your field.”

Wist said work by Canola Council of Canada agronomists showed that, in the absence of rove beetles (a type of ground beetle), flea beetle populations increase.

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Ag-chemical company FMC has announced that its flonicamid-based insecticide, Carbine, has the stamp of approval from Canadian regulators and will reach the market in 2023.

The Group 29 product “disrupts the potassium channels in the pests’ nervous system,” interfering with the insect’s mouthparts and restricting them from feeding, said a Dec. 13 FMC release.

The product is targeted for use in alfalfa, lentils, field peas and other pulse crops.

As of Dec. 20, Health Canada’s database showed the product as registered, although no label had been uploaded.

Why it matters: The selective insecticide has been pitched as an alternative to broad-spectrum products that kill beneficial insects along with pests.

The addition to Canada’s pest control landscape could be part of integrated pest management programs. The company says the chemical’s activity is specific enough to control aphids, while having “minimal” impact on beneficial insects like pollinators.

The product controls immature and adult aphids, according to FMC Canada. It says Carbine’s residual window will prevent recolonization.

“We are committed to bringing unique, sustainable products to growers as they face significant yield-robbing pests,” said FMC Canada insecticide product manager Frances Boddy, in the release.

Carbine has a one-week pre-harvest window when application is restricted, but can otherwise be used any time in the growing season. FMC Canada urged producers to scout often once crops start to flower and to take economic thresholds into account before using the product.

Aphid fight 2022

Field peas, soybeans and small grains all had aphid problems in the past growing season, according to a summary from Manitoba Agriculture.

Pea fields in central, southwest and northwest Manitoba were sprayed for pea aphids, in some cases mixed with fungicide. Soybeans also saw economically damaging levels of aphid in August, with the Interlake, central and eastern regions reporting control measures.

Provincial entomologist John Gavloski noted a number of broad-spectrum insecticide passes were needed to control the pests, but “in some fields high levels of natural enemies were noted, particularly evidence of parasitism.”

“Having more selective insecticide options is welcome, as a fundamental component of integrated pest management is preserving natural enemies of crop feeding pests. This gives farmers and agronomists the option of controlling aphids that surpasses economic thresholds and doing minimal harm to the natural enemies that are feeding on or parasitizing multiple crop feeding insects.”

Registration

Isk Biosciences Corp. successfully registered Carbine with the Pest Management Regulatory Agency as of Nov. 30. FMC is licensed to market the insecticide, which is trademarked under the Ohio-based agro-chemical firm’s parent company, Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha Ltd. of Japan.

It is the second flonicamid-based insecticide registered by the company. In December 2010, Isk Biosciences Corp. received approval for Beleaf, registered for control of aphids and, in some crops, tarnished plant bugs, other lygus bugs and thrips in horticultural crops, as well as flax, alfalfa, other forage legumes and field legume crops except soybeans. FMC’s insecticide portfolio also includes Beleaf.

The company said Carbine will also reduce lygus bug and tarnished plant bug populations.

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The decision is a victory for environmental activists who have fought to stop the use of the chemical that is applied to crops ranging from corn and soybeans to Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

“EPA is taking an overdue step to protect public health,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “Ending the use of chlorpyrifos on food will help to ensure children, farmworkers, and all people are protected from the potentially dangerous consequences of this pesticide.”

Chlorpyrifos has been used as a pesticide since 1965 on farms and in non-agricultural areas such as golf courses, according to the EPA.

However, applications have declined due to state restrictions, reduced production and the development of alternative products, the agency said.

The EPA banned the use of chlorpyrifos in 2015 under President Barack Obama after the agency decided it could not be certain whether exposure to the chemical in food and water would be harmful. But President Donald Trump’s EPA reversed the decision and said there was not enough evidence to link exposure to chlorpyrifos to children’s health issues.

“EPA is finally following its own findings on this poisonous pesticide,” said Allison Johnson, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Last year, California prohibited farmers from using chlorpyrifos products and manufacturers from selling them due to health concerns.

Corteva, the world’s largest manufacturer of the chemical, in 2020 said it would stop producing chlorpyrifos because of declining sales.

Cancelled in Canada

Registered in Canada since 1969, chlorpyrifos is used to control certain cutworms in corn and potatoes, midge in wheat, and grasshoppers in cereal crops and canola.

Sold in Canada at the farm level under brand names including Corteva’s Lorsban, Adama Canada’s Pyrinex, Cheminova’s Nufos and Ipco’s Citadel, the chemical’s product labels also make note of its “acute mammalian toxicity.”

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) launched a environmental re-evaluation of chlorpyrifos in 2018, and found “risks of concern” to “beneficial arthropods, birds, mammals and all aquatic biota.”

PMRA’s re-evaluation decision in December 2020 cancelled nearly all outdoor uses of the chemical, except for use in greenhouse ornamentals; control of Japanese beetle larvae in outdoor ornamentals; elm bark beetle and mountain pine beetle control; mosquito control; and non-residential “structural” uses.

Companies holding chlorpyrifos registrations in Canada for cancelled uses can sell the product until December this year, after which retailers may sell it until December next year, and end-users may apply the product until December 2023.

Two agricultural uses were to get an extension on those deadlines: alfalfa looper control in canola and darksided and redbacked cutworm control in garlic.

Those two specific uses “were found to lack suitable alternatives,” PMRA said in its decision, and those cancellations were to be “delayed for an additional two years to allow growers to find pest management solutions.”

Health Canada also said it planned to separately update its assessment for human health concerns related to chlorpyrifos, as “new studies related to human health assessment have been generated.”

In May this year, however, PMRA said the human health assessment was “no longer needed,” after it issued a data call-in notice to registration holders for the chemical and registrants “failed to satisfy the data requirements.”

Thus, the agency said, all pest control products containing chlorpyrifos are now included in the same cancellation schedule — including for alfalfa looper control in canola and darksided and redbacked cutworm control in garlic.

The last date of use for all current chlorpyrifos products and uses in Canada is now set at Dec. 10, 2023.

— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Polansek in Chicago. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff. Updated to include PMRA’s May decision.

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*Across the Prairies, flea beetles are an oft-seen pest that feeds on both canola and mustard seedlings, damaging crops and, in some cases, forcing growers to re-seed.

There are two main species: the striped flea beetle which thrives in cooler, wetter conditions, and the crucifer flea beetle which enjoys warm and dry weather. Adult populations are also known to feed on crops in late summer and early fall, but damage past the four-leaf stage is not considered as serious.

“A percentage of the acres in Western Canada have flea beetle pressure, enough that causes concern. If you’re in an area that has high populations and you also have poor growing conditions or something else is wrong with your crop, flea beetles really become a management challenge,” Keith Gabert, agronomy specialist for the Canola Council of Canada, said.

Current hot spots for flea beetles, he said, are in north-central and east-central Saskatchewan as well as southern Manitoba. However, it’s difficult to predict where they may appear.

“It’s simply a numbers game,” he added. “If you have far too many flea beetles for the number of plants you’re trying to offer them or the leaf material that’s there, then the amount of damage that they do is pretty substantial.”

Temperatures between 17 and 25 C are when flea beetles can do the most damage. Anything else, they will move closer to the soil and underneath plants, according to Gabert.

In Saskatchewan and Alberta, flea beetles are prevalent in some areas. Near Regina, the crucifer type — a rarity in those parts — has been spotted. Northeastern Alberta has also been identified as a hot spot.

Growers are urged to scout fields for damage and to keep track of leaf area loss. Insecticides can be used in-crop once numbers pass the economic threshold.

“Folks need to start doing a little scouting, especially in the fall when the adults emerge before overwintering, to see what those numbers look like. That may give some perspective as to what’s coming in the spring,” Alberta’s acting provincial entomologist Doug MacAulay said.

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

*Update: An earlier version of this story said flea beetle larvae feed on canola and mustard seedings. In fact it’s adult flea beetles.

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Considering the high prices of many crops this season, the potential damage would be more costly.

John Gavloski, entomologist for Manitoba Agriculture, said there is a greater risk for flea beetles in canola crops.

“We’ve had chronically high populations in recent years and what’s making the risk even greater this year is anything that keeps the plant in the seedling stage for a prolonged period will increase the risk,” he said.

“So (because of) the dry conditions we’ve been having, if the crop emerges but isn’t advancing quickly, it makes it a lot more susceptible to flea beetle feeding.”

Cutworms, which can feed on a wide variety of field crops, are also appearing in higher-than-normal populations, Gavloski said. Certain types of grasshoppers can also feed on crops, but dense, lush vegetation outside of fields can prevent them from encroachment.

Those grasshoppers who fly before June, that have hind wings visible in flight or make noise are not considered pests. Other beneficial insects include ladybugs, ground and rove beetles, aphids and flies.

“We encourage farmers to only use broad-spectrum insecticides when needed, because you’re killing off all the good bugs and sometimes the good bugs will help keep some of the potential pests in check,” Gavloski said, adding that growers should adhere to an economic threshold.

James Tansey, insect and vertebrate management specialist for Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture, said dry conditions and delayed seeding are helping increase insect populations in farmers’ fields.

While grasshoppers and flea beetles are still major threats across the Prairies, another pest to watch out for is wheat midge, an orange fly which can reduce yields and grades of non-resistant wheat varieties.

“We have a lot of heavy populations stacked up in different parts of the province,” Tansey said. “(However), this is an animal who doesn’t do well in hot, dry conditions. It needs 25 millimetres of rain before the end of May. Otherwise, its emergence gets interrupted.”

The pea leaf weevil is also a pest of interest, according to Doug Macaulay, acting provincial entomologist for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. The insect, as a larva and an adult, feeds on peas and other legumes and is concentrated in areas surrounding Edmonton and Lethbridge.

“The wintering adults are now starting to show up in fields now that the peas are popping out of the ground,” he said. “If there’s a heavy population and (growers) don’t have treated seed, it’s going to be very hard to control them.”

Macaulay also cautions growers to watch for wheat stem sawfly, which feeds on wheat, rye and certain types of barley, but can be attacked by the parasitic wasp Bracon cephi.

He also urges growers to scout early and act quickly against pests.

“The earlier you can take action on any insect, the better,” Macaulay said. “Smaller, younger nymphs and larvae are more susceptible and it takes less insecticide to deal with them.”

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

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BASF Canada Agricultural Solutions on Monday announced approval from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) for broflanilide, a GABA-gated chloride channel allosteric modulator.

In other words, Group 30 chemicals stick to their target insects’ central nervous systems and kill them with convulsions and hyperactivity.

BASF plans to launch broflanilide in Canada for the 2021 growing season in two products: Teraxxa F4, a combination insecticide/fungicide for cereals, and Cimegra, an insecticide for potatoes and corn.

Previously registered products for use on wireworm have “intoxicated” the pest, “leaving a potential for their recovery,” BASF said, whereas broflanilide “targets all wireworm larval stages, which helps suppress and control potential seasonal recovery of wireworm populations.”

“Growers have struggled with wireworms in cereals for years, with available products deterring, rather than eliminating wireworms,” Chris Hewitt, seed treatment and inoculant marketing lead at BASF Canada, said in a release.

The company bills Teraxxa F4 as “a powerful new tool for cereal growers, especially those in Alberta and Saskatchewan, who have battled significant crop damage and loss due to wireworms in recent years.”

The product is to be sold as a premix of the new insecticide with four fungicide actives — pyraclostrobin, triticonazole, metalaxyl and fluxapyroxad — adding “broad spectrum protection against seed- and soil-borne diseases.”

Cimegra, meanwhile, is expected to offer “in-season management and reduction” of chewing insects, including wireworm in corn and potatoes as well as corn rootworm in corn.

The product offers “a unique mode of action that delivers lasting efficacy with no known resistance, making it an excellent new tool for the management of wireworms,” Allison Friesen, technical market specialist for insecticides and seed treatment at BASF Canada, said in the same release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The U.S.-based company will also divest its canine ear infection treatment product Osurnia and Bayer’s feline dewormer Profender to address competition concerns about its acquisition of the German firm’s veterinary drugs unit.

The Competition Bureau said Elanco and Bayer’s animal health unit were each other’s closest rivals in several Canadian markets and a potential combination would result in a substantial decrease in competition.

It added that Elanco could not buy Bayer’s other poultry insecticides with darkling beetle coverage for 10 years and significant interest in any such product for two years without providing an advance notice to the Bureau.

Bayer’s CropScience unit has the Canadian distribution rights to its poultry insecticides Tempo, Credo, QuickBayt and Annihilator Polyzone.

Elanco last month secured European Union antitrust clearance to buy Bayer’s veterinary drugs unit after pledging to sell some products to address competition concerns regarding the deal.

— Reporting for Reuters by Praveen Paramasivam in Bangalore.

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Many countries have already prohibited paraquat, a broad-spectrum herbicide, and chlorpyrifos, an insecticide.

Some 10 million farming households in Thailand, one of the biggest exporters of natural rubber and sugar, use paraquat to kill weed on palm, rubber, sugarcane, corn, and cassava plantations.

“Without paraquat, Thai farmers will face losses in key crops, because there are no alternatives,” said Sukan Sungwanna, secretary-general of the Federation of Safe Agriculture.

Thai farmers use chlorpyrifos to kill worms on fruit, but can use alternatives.

The farmers’ group last week submitted a petition to an administrative court to repeal the ban, which came into force on Monday after the chemicals were added to a Type 4 list on Thailand’s Hazardous Substance Act last month.

That means their production, import, export, distribution and possession are banned. Flouting the rule could mean up to 10 years in jail or a fine of one million baht (C$42,944), or both.

Thailand is also drafting regulation to impose a zero tolerance policy on imported crops produced using the chemicals, sparking concern among local industry groups.

The food and livestock industries rely on wheat and soybean imports, mostly from the United States and Brazil and they have asked the Thai government to instead maintain limits on maximum allowable chemical residues (MRLs).

In November, Thailand reversed a ban on the herbicide glyphosate, allowing its use to continue within MRLs after the U.S. government asked for the ban to be postponed.

Non-profit group BioThai said human health should come before business.

“The ban is a transition to sustainable agriculture,” said Witoon Lianchamroon, the group’s director.

In Canada, the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency launched a re-evaluation of chlorpyrifos in 2018 and published a proposal last summer to cancel almost all its uses, including agricultural uses. The agency’s final re-evaluation decision is still pending.

Just one paraquat herbicide, Syngenta’s Gramoxone 200 SL, is still registered in Canada.

— Patpicha Tanakasempipat reports on commodities, public policy and environmental issues in Southeast Asia for Reuters from Bangkok. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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