Neonicotinoids

(asked on 18th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the reduced application rate will be in the 2021 emergency authorisation of neonicotinoid use for sugar beet; and what evidence his Department holds on that rate reducing risk of harm to the environment, including to aquatic invertebrates.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 26th January 2021

The emergency authorisation will limit the application rate to 45 grammes of thiamethoxam per 100,000 seeds. There is evidence that this rate, which is 25% less than that previously authorised, will be sufficiently effective in controlling the target pest. The consequence of the lower rate will be that less thiamethoxam will remain in the soil and water and so the potential for harm to aquatic invertebrates and other creatures will be reduced.

Reticulating Splines