“In 2030, agriculture and horticulture will consist of sustainable production with sustainable plants and growing systems, so that diseases and pests have fewer opportunities and the use of plant protection products can be prevented as much as possible.” This is the basis of the “2030 Plant Protection Vision” of the Ministry agriculture, nature and food quality.
The phase-out of the use of plant protection products is a long process, although the first results are already visible. Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that the agricultural sector used about 5 million kilograms of plant protection products in 2020. This is more than 11 percent less than in 2016. Over 1.2 million kilograms of the total was used for weed control and leaf destruction. Decreased by 14 percent compared to 2016.
The criticism from the sector is that the number of alternatives is not growing at such a pace. “There is a long list of green resources that are not yet approved. Sometimes they are even resources that are used in the rest of Europe,” says Jaap Bond, chairman of the Royal General Bulb Association.
According to Bond, the current admissions system does not match the political ambitions of the Empire. “If a new product application is made, the College of Plant Protection Products and Biocides Authorization will go through a two-year process. It must be different if we are to achieve our goals.”
This is the path of innovation that we must take as an industry
New method
Means for the chemical destruction of leaves, in particular in potatoes, are rapidly becoming less and less. With that in mind, hardware maker Nufarm and machine builder crop introduced .nucrop last year. This is a relatively new method of destroying foliage. The spray boom at the front of the tractor sprays the guiding liquid onto the crop. The crop is powered by electrical wires located behind the tractor.
“Electricity is used to speed up the natural death of crops,” says Mark Slutman of importer Kamps de Wild.
In consumer potato cultivation, one treatment is usually enough to cause the foliage to die back sufficiently. Although chemical processing is less expensive, the advantage of Nucrop is that it can be used later. As a result, extra pounds can grow. In addition, the electrical destruction of the leaves will lead to an improvement in the quality of the peel.
Need a heavy tractor
The disadvantages are the limited working width and throughput, the fact that the Nucrop cannot yet be used in all weather conditions and that a relatively heavy tractor is required. The latter may result in more green tubers and compacted spores.
Despite these challenges, the CZAV and Nedato cooperatives see opportunities. In mid-August, the parties announced that they would start working with Nucrop. The land is being tested at Koninklijke Maatschap de Wilhelminapolder in Wilhelminadorp in Zeeland. And the machine is also used by Klok in Heenvliet in the south of Holland.
Floriculture
Bulb growers are also suffering from a shrinking supply package. “This makes growing a healthy bulb more and more difficult,” says Dennis van der Schans, cultivation consultant at Agrifirm-GNN. So he asked himself if electrical leaf destruction might also be interesting for growing bulbs. ‘We asked Maatshap Joling from Drenthe Westerveld to take part in the lawsuit. It happened in 2021 on a small scale, with one variety.’
The results of the study showed opportunities and challenges. Van der Schans explains that after the treatment with Nucrop, the crop immediately began to die off, and no negative effect on quality was observed. “But the unfortunate side effect was that the stems stayed more firmly in the bulb. We had to remove them by hand.” No new trials are planned for the coming period.
Not yet common
Therefore, van der Schans says he does not yet see a future for large-scale use of electric leaf destruction in flower bulbs in the short term. Bond also doesn’t expect electrocution of leaves to become commonplace in the industry within a few years. “We are a long way from here. Data entry software, for example, still needs to be refined and adapted. However, I believe this is the path of innovation that we as a sector should take.”
