A major issue currently concerning the agriculture sector is the withdrawal of crop protection chemicals in the European Union based on health concerns. This poses a major challenge to realising crop yield potential and maintaining crop quality at a time when there is an urgent need to increase agricultural productivity to meet the food requirements of a rapidly expanding global population.
The Interest Group in Crop Defence for Food and Feed Security is hosted by the Plants & Crops sector of KTN, with objectives to address some of the technical challenges posed by the withdrawal of crop protection agents, notably those relating to resistance management and food safety issues. It will also consider the societal context surrounding public perception concerning the acceptability of using certain pesticides and alternative approaches to crop protection, and the effect that consumer acceptability has on driving regulation.
The first activity of the Interest Group was to organise a technology-led workshop, entitled "The Impact of reduced pesticide availability: Challenges for UK Agriculture & Horticulture", which reviewed the challenges currently facing the Agriculture sector and the issues facing the Agrochemical industry in developing new crop protection products, and looked at opportunities to develop alternative approaches to pest management.