50% pesticide reduction – Mission accomplished or time for a reliable indicator?
30 September 2024, online
In a well-attended webinar GLOBAL2000 and IFOAM Organics Europe presented an alternative to the much-contested pesticides measurement tool, the Harmonized Risk Indicator 1 (HRI-1).
Martin Dermine from Pesticides Action Network Europe and Maria Zintl from IFOAM Organics Europe, explained the HRI-1 indicator’s shortcomings measuring pesticide use and risk, and how it is particularly inadequate when applied to natural substances used in organic farming.
Dr. Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, biochemist at GLOBAL 2000, presented an alternative tool, the PURI, an indicator that considers the treatable crop area and negative effects on human health and our environment for each individual active substance (the components of pesticides).
The new model thus corrects two major simplifications in the HRI-1 indicator which only looks at total pesticide mass used, regardless of the surface area of crop treated, and also groups active substances very roughly into four groups which do not reflect in detail on health and environment effects.
Is the new indicator, PURI, a more realistic way of looking at pesticide use and risk in Europe? Watch the webinar recordings and read the press release IFOAM Organics Europe and European Citizens’ Initiative condemn “fake pesticide reduction to find out.
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Documents:
- Fact check: Pesticides in conventional and organic farming
- NGO letter: The EU must make pesticide reduction a reality
Videos:
The work of IFOAM Organics Europe on this topic is co-financed by the LIFE programme of the European Union, under the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). This page only reflects the views of the authors and its sole responsibility lies with IFOAM Organics Europe. The CINEA is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information provided.