CULTIVATIONTIPS ADVISIE Substance-free
The pesticide and disinfectant cupboard on Dutch mushroom growing farms is almost bare. There is just one legally permitted form of chemical crop protection left. But for how long? Many customers already have zero-tolerance policy. On casing soil compa- nies the casing may no longer be disinfected, and composters have also been forced to ban the usual disinfection method. It is not a question of if, but rather when will immense problems confront the sector. Chemical crop protection products are being legally banned, the chemical industry is no longer applying for extensions for existing products, and requesting permission for new products is no longer an interesting option. ‘We can produce mushrooms in the Netherlands without any chemical prod- ucts’ is being proclaimed from the roof tops, but often by people who are far removed from daily practice.
There used to be a crop protection booklet that described the importance of thorough disinfection to prevent diseases; and if it did occur, you could look up which product to use for the most eff ective form of control. Every grower had a spraying licence so products could be applied responsibly. You may wonder whether this has any sense today. I am certainly not in favour of over-using chemicals, and I know that good quality compost off ers the best protection against the majority of diseases. However, production has to take place all year round, and there are times where the raw mate- rials are less than optimal, and the pressure of disease is higher than usual. In that case you have to be able to nip a disease in the bud before it can get out of control and wreak havoc. A disease unchecked can be a costly exercise and spell disaster for a farm. There is no margin for error - the cupboard is bare and the pockets are empty too. There has to be an adequate form of back up, something that if need be you can obtain with a prescription. If the going is tough you should be able to take fi rm preventive action and resort to more extreme forms of treatment. Desperate diseases need desperate remedies as they say.
By Con Hermans
AdVisie ‘the mushroom growing consult- ant’, Heythuysen
hermans@mushroomconsulting.nl Photo’s: AdVisie
We are now in one of these predicaments, as trichoderma infections are rife. Some growers have seen this infl ict a 90% reduction in yields in the second fl ush. But we have no more weapons at our disposal that we can use between fl ushes. The cause is still unknown, which complicates searching for a quick solution and the costs, of course, have to be borne by the growers. Ironically, in practice, both inside and outside Europe, a wide range of old, but also new, products are being used to combat disease - and these treated mushrooms are sold with no questions asked on the market we jointly serve. The products are often of Dutch origin, but are not permitted for use here.
We always want to show our best behaved side and act as an example by leading, but does this attitude really do anything to boost the competitive advantage of the handful of growers still left? If we are not careful then there really won’t be any call at all anymore for pesticides in the mushroom sector …
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Jos Hilkens +31(0)653 31 6204
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Con Hermans +31(0)653 29 9396
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