Pest Control

(asked on 4th September 2015) - 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 assessment she has made of the ability and efficacy of alternative pest control methods to the use of neonicotinoids.


Answered by
George Eustice Portrait
George Eustice
This question was answered on 11th September 2015

Alternative pest control methods were considered by experts before emergency authorisations were issued for use of neonicotinoid pesticides to control cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylloides chrysocephala) in winter oilseed rape. The only alternative chemical control is use of pyrethroid sprays. These are generally less effective against this pest and populations of it have developed significant resistance to pyrethroids in the UK.

Non-chemical methods may have a role in the long-term development of a strategy to control this pest, but are not suited to emergency control. The usefulness of adjusting the date of sowing may be limited by other factors, such as weather, and trap cropping has not been shown to be practical for large-scale use.

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