When member states make EU policy look ridiculous: The case of western corn rootworm

In yesterday and today’s agricultural council (11-12 November), the Austrian and the Hungarian delegations will suggest to allow more pesticides in EU’s maize sector under the excuse of needing to eradicate a well-established pest. A year ago, the EU agreed with member states that it was no longer possible to eradicate this pest. Member states should instead learn to live with it.

Furthermore, chemicals used to eradicate it from conventional maize cropping systems are highly toxic to bees and some are therefore banned. European maize cultivation covers around 14 million hectares in the EU. This crop is mainly used for animal feed. On average, around 22% of maize cultivation in the EU is by continuous monoculture.

Maize is one of the most intensively grown crops. It is widely linked to a variety of environmental problems ranging from biodiversity loss and soil erosion to overconsumption and pollution of water, linked to heavy pesticides use. In 2002 the maize pest Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, the western corn rootworm - also known as the 'billion dollar pest' - started to spread in the European Union. In 2003 the European Commission included Diabrotica as a regulated harmful organism with quarantine status and introduced emergency measures. Preventative measures, such as crop rotation, were mandatory, to avoid its spread.

Unfortunately, many member states did not take these emergency measures seriously, with the consequences that the pest spread. And in 2013, pressure from some member states, farmers unions and maize growers associations, resulted in the repeal of this EU law, as it is considered ‘no longer possible to control and eradicate the pest from the EU territory.

Surprisingly enough, measures against the western corn rootworm are being discussed again yesterday or today in the European Council. The Austrian and the Hungarian delegations will brief the Council about control measures to eradicate the corn rootworm, including intensification of the research on the parasite and on the other hand better harmonized procedures for the authorization of suitable plant protection products in the member states affected.

The permanent resurgence of this topic is useless: chemical ways of fighting Diabrotica are banned, such as neonicotinoids, as they are highly toxic to bees and the environment (pyrethroids). Furthermore, a rotation of crops every 3 years is enough to limit damages under economical threshold. It is more economical and efficient than using pesticides to fight this pest. Is such a proposal not absurd?

PAN Europe’s president, Francois Veillerette, calls for the European Commission to stand strong in this reminding member states that since January 2014, non-chemical alternatives to pesticides are mandatory for farmers. Furthermore, non-toxic biological control of Diabrotica based on entomoparasitic nematodes are available on the market when pressure in Diabrotica is too high. Francesco Panella, president of Bee Life and beekeeper who has suffered in first place the harm of neonicotinoid treated maize asks for alternatives to pesticides to be implemented for pest control: “We have seen it in Italy. Since 2008 no maize seed is treated with neonicotinoids anymore and yields never dropped. Farmers rotated maize with other crops and used resistant varieties. The beekeepers in the maize areas have experienced a re-boost of their bees.”

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