Abstract
The reduction of copper-based plant-protection products with the final aim of phasing out has a high priority in European policy, as well as in organic agriculture. Our survey aims at providing an overview of the current use of these products in European organic agriculture and the need for alternatives to allow policymakers to develop strategies for a complete phasing out. Due to a lack of centralized databases on pesticide use, our survey combines expert knowledge on permitted and real copper use per crop and country, with statistics on organic area. In the 12 surveyed countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK), we calculated that approximately 3258 t copper metal per year is consumed by organic agriculture, equaling to 52% of the permitted annual dosage. This amount is split between olives (1263 t y−1, 39%), grapevine (990 t y−1, 30%), and almonds (317 t y−1, 10%), followed by other crops with much smaller annual uses (<80 t y−1). In 56% of the allowed cases (countries × crops), farmers use less than half of the allowed amount, and in 27%, they use less than a quarter. At the time being, completely abandoning copper fungicides would lead to high yield losses in many crops. To successfully reduce or avoid copper use, all preventive strategies have to be fully implemented, breeding programs need to be intensified, and several affordable alternative products need to be brought to the market.
Highlights
The use of copper fungicides to combat plant diseases has a long tradition, dating back to the late 19th century, when Alexis Millardet accidentally discovered the efficacy of neutralized copper sulfate to reduce grapevine downy mildew [1,2]
Our survey shows that copper-based plant-protection products are registered in 25 out of 30 European countries (22 EU member states, as well as the non-EU countries, namely Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom)
Even though organic agriculture strictly regulates the use of inputs, organic farmers in Europe still use some inputs generally thought to be contentious [34]
Summary
The use of copper fungicides to combat plant diseases has a long tradition, dating back to the late 19th century, when Alexis Millardet accidentally discovered the efficacy of neutralized copper sulfate to reduce grapevine downy mildew [1,2]. This discovery revolutionized agricultural production by providing the first effective tool to control various phytopathogens. Many fungicidal active substances have been discovered in the meantime, copper-based plant-protection products are still widely used in organic and conventional agriculture [2], due to their many advantages and the lack of alternatives. Being an element having scarce mobility in soil, repeated foliar applications of copper-based plant-protection products lead to copper accumulation in the soils [12] and to potentially consequent negative impacts on soil fertility (negative effects reviewed by La Torre et al [13], for example), even though studies put the negative effects in perspective (as reviewed by Karimi et al [14], for example)
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