EU agriculture plays a vital role in ensuring food security and driving our economy. In their attempt to supply enough healthy and high-quality food, farmers face a constant threat from crop disease. Since the 1940s fungicides have enabled farmers to prevent and treat diseases, but potential Regulation that could reduce access to these important tools looks likely to have a dramatic impact.

1. iNForMAtioN FroM tHe AgriculturAl iNDuStrY | OCTOBER 2011
AgriculturAl DiAlogue 14
eDitoriAl
Dear Readers,
The contribution of fungicides to EU
agriculture is often overlooked. Since the
1940’s they have enabled the transition to
high yield crop varieties, improving access
to healthy and affordable food.
Source: CropLife
Increasing incidence of plant disease,
driven by climate change, means that
today’s farmers rely on fungicides more
than ever. Concerns persist however that
regulation could limit access to these
Curtailing the cure? products resulting in over-reliance on a very
limited set of solutions, quickly leading to
EU agriculture plays a vital role in ensuring food security and driving our resistance.
economy. In their attempt to supply enough healthy and high-quality This edition of the Agricultural Dialogue
food, farmers face a constant threat from crop disease. Since the 1940s takes a closer look at the pressing need
fungicides have enabled farmers to prevent and treat diseases, but potential for resistance management, the socio-
Regulation that could reduce access to these important tools looks likely to economic contribution of fungicides, and
have a dramatic impact. the science on their safety. We are fortunate
to have the insight of two of the foremost
Illness is not only a human condition. Agricultural crops are vulnerable to global experts in this field, Prof. Dr. Michael
deadly fungal and viral infections including Septoria tritici, Fusarium, Rust, Schmitz (Institute of Agribusiness, University
Powdery mildew and Eyespot. In Europe fungi have traditionally been the of Giessen) and Dr. Ronald Kendall (Texas
more prevalent threat to arable crops, and have proven devastating if left Tech University).
untreated – destroying up to 40% of the total harvest.
Fungicides, like antibiotics in human healthcare, revolutionised disease
treatment. Their introduction in the 1940s prompted the start of the green
revolution; an ongoing period of marked agricultural yield increases. In Markus Heldt
addition to dramatically reducing yield losses from illness, fungicides enable President, Crop Protection Division, BASF SE
the cultivation of high yield varieties that would otherwise be susceptible to
disease.

2. AgriculturAl DiAlogue 14 2
The figures are stark. Consolidated UN FAO statistics on European wheat
yields begin only 20 years after their initial introduction, but the impact is
still evident. Between 1960 and 2008 wheat yields in Europe more than
doubled from approximately 1.25 to 3.5 tons per hectare (FAO).
Growing resistance
However, fungicides’ likeness to antibiotics does not end there.
Fungicides have been used widely and today European agriculture is
heavily dependent on their extraordinary benefits. Just as bacteria have
adapted successfully to some antibiotics, fungi in plants have evolved to
fungicides and in recent years have developed significant resistance to
many of the classes in use. Only the azole class, and particularly triazoles
amongst them, are still considered to be highly reliable by farmers.
Meanwhile the investment and timescale required to develop new
products is severe; not to mention uncertain given the EU’s switch to
Did you know?
hazard based regulation. This leaves farmers with an ever smaller toolbox
for fighting fungi effectively, threatening EU agricultural productivity.  The European agriculture sector is
worth 675 billion euros a year and
The threat posed to yield levels by further EU regulation is very concerning
employs more than 11.2 million people,
given two facts; (a) the global population is nearly 40% larger than it was
equating to 14.2% of EU manufacturing
in 1950 and (b) the population of the world is predicted to reach 9 billion export.
by 2050.
 Cereals (258m tons) are the main crop
Environmental threats grown in the EU.
The spread of wheat stem rust UG99 lineage
New and emerging infectious  The demand for wheat in the EU is
disease is a regular media expected to rise at a rate (21%) that
topic, with SARS and cannot be supported by the expected
Asian Bird Flu being recent rise in production (7%).
examples. Less well reported  According to the UN FAO fungicides
is the re-emergence of UG99, prevent losses estimated to be between
a devastating strain of the 15 and 30% of global wheat harvests –
rust fungus that, thought to equivalent to 44 billion loaves of bread,
be extinct, has spread the or the amount of bread consumed in
length of Africa in less than Germany each year.
Source: FAO
a decade and now sits at the
 An EU ban of azoles would:
gateway to Asia and Europe.
B Create an annual EU welfare loss es-
Climate change is also causing major problems for farmers, who are timated to be between 4.4 billion and
being introduced to new crop diseases. 5.6 billion USD that would be mainly
borne by producers
Finding a solution B Reduce yields significantly (average =
As such EU regulation needs to be designed in a way that it ensures Germany 17%, UK 16%, France 23%)
farmers have access to effective solutions for fighting crop disease. B Result in the net EU trade position on
wheat changing from an export of 8.7
In support of this opinion, a 2010 meeting of European and Mediterranean million tonnes, to an import status of
Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) – the intergovernmental organization 9.6 million tonnes
- on Azole fungicides and Septoria leaf blotch control concluded that:
 Potato blight which caused the deaths
“azoles are a major factor in the successful management of this and other of an estimated 1 million people during
important cereal diseases, and having a diversity of azoles available is the Irish potato famine in 1845 is still a
considered important in managing this disease”. serious threat to harvests.
For now farmers are doing everything in their power not to compromise  Wheat rust spreads as billions of spores
azoles, by rotating them and mixing them with other fungicides. in the wind. They move incrementally
Resistance management has become a watchword, but they fear that from field to field and need wet weather
the variety of the tools they have to work with may be reduced in the to thrive.
future due to ever more complex regulation.

3. iNForMAtioN FroM tHe AgriculturAl iNDuStrY | octoBer 2011 3
About Dr. Ronald Kendall
Dr. Ronald Kendall is the founder and
director of the Institute of Environmental
and Human Health at Texas Tech
University as well as the founding chair and
professor of the university’s Department
of Environmental Toxicology. Since
1997, the Institute of Environmental and
Human Health (IEHH) has distinguished
itself for its multidisciplinary approach to
environmental and human health issues.
A leader in the field of wildlife toxicology,
Minimal risk, maximum reward Kendall is frequently consulted by foreign
countries on environmental issues. His
Following the implementation of the EU Regulation research has been supported by 138
1107/2009, pesticides (including fungicides) will grants totalling over 50 million dollars.
- uniquely in EU regulation - be assessed on the A prolific author with more than 200
basis of hazard rather than risk. Practically, a refereed journal and technical articles as
substance with characteristics that might require well as books, Kendall is considered to
an additional label in other applications could well have played a leading role in the initiation
be banned for use in crop protection. Dr. Ronald of the field of wildlife toxicology.
Kendall (Texas Tech University), one of the world’s
foremost experts on the toxicology, shares his Among his many accomplishments, he
opinion on fungicides, also commenting on the serves as an environmental advisor to
new assessment criteria. the United States Justice Department
and has addressed the United Nations
After a thorough assessment of all the scientific literature, what is Committee on Sustainable Development.
your opinion on the safety of fungicides?
Generally speaking, fungal diseases are extremely difficult to control
in agriculture without chemical application. Fungicidal chemicals are
derived from a variety of structures. These include simple inorganic
compounds, such as copper sulfate, to complex organic compounds. Cereal production, utilization and stocks
Although the scientific literature is voluminous and complex regarding
Million Million
fungicide toxicology, generally speaking these crop protection products tonnes tonnes
2400 800
can be used safely and effectively under practical agricultural applications
Utilization
when used according to the label and applied by trained professionals. Production
Stocks
What is the toxicological profile of fungicides?
2200 600
With few exceptions, fungicides have relatively low acute toxicity in
mammals. However, some have historically produced positive results in
genotoxicity tests and, if such effects were demonstrated, many of these
products have been regulated out of use.
2000 400
What are the dosage limits when looking at commercially sold
fungicides and how does this relate to human health?
Generally speaking, a fungicide is applied as a formulation which includes
an active ingredient that is mixed with inert ingredients to enhance 1800 200
application. Therefore, the commercial formulation of a fungicide is not
0 2
0 3
0 4
0 5
0 6
0 7
0 8
0 9
1 0
11 1
2
20 1/0
20 2/0
20 3/0
20 4/0
20 5/0
20 6/0
20 7/0
20 8/0
20 9/1
20 0/1
/1
0
100% active ingredient. When one considers the general commercial
20
Source: FAO

4. AgriculturAl DiAlogue 14 iNForMAtioN FroM tHe AgriculturAl iNDuStrY | octoBer 2011 4
applications of fungicides, the release of the active ingredient is generally
relatively low, which means a reduced level of exposure for humans. Since Prof. Dr. Michael Schmitz
is recognized as a global
one of the basic tenants of toxicology is “the dose makes the poison”, low
expert on the impacts
levels of human exposure to the active ingredients in fungicides are preferred. of EU and international
agricultural policy. He
As a leading toxicologist what do you think about the ongoing debate is the founder and di-
in the EU about the endocrine disruptors, especially with reference to rector of the Institute of
fungicides? Agribusiness located in
Giessen, Germany. He
There is a great deal of controversy and debate on just the definition of currently teaches at the
Institute of Agricultural
an endocrine disruptor, much less the science needed to understand
Policy and Market Research of the University
the relevance of endocrine disruption in terms of human health and the of Giessen. Prof. Dr. Schmitz is Member of the
environment. In general, the emerging scientific area of endocrine disruptors Scientific Advisory Board on Agriculture Policy
will take a great deal of work to define and validate the tests needed to at the German Agriculture Ministry.
determine relevant endocrine endpoints that can be interpreted to protect How important are azoles to crop protection
human health in the environment. and what action would you propose to pro-
tect EU crop yields? “We access the future im-
Does the recent conversion to hazard based assessment of fungicides portance of azoles very favorably. In our opinion
make this debate disproportionately threatening to crop health? they are not replaceable and have the highest
impact on plant health and yields with regard
If one just addresses a hazard based assessment of fungicides without to resistance management, curative action and
broad spectrum. Our results show that farmers
considering “dose”, this discounts one of the basic tenants in toxicology
and technical experts in UK, France and Ger-
and that being “dose makes the poison”. Therefore, in the science of risk many would find it very difficult to combat fu-
assessment, one needs to consider in addition to hazard an incorporated sarium and septoria tritici without azole-based
exposure assessment, in other words “dose”. Also, oftentimes high-dose products and there is a strong consensus
tests are used in hazard identification yet the approved agricultural uses, among all countries that restriction of azoles
which are effective in pest management, involve much lower concentrations would have disastrous impacts on resistance
management; becoming extremely difficult or
of the fungicide. Therefore, the ultimate net effect of using hazard-based
almost impossible, especially in the case of
assessments could be to put crop health at risk while overcompensating for septoria.
human health protection.
Restriction of azoles would have a strong im-
pact on disease control due to missing curative
There appears to be disagreement amongst experts on the safety of
effects, higher costs, more time consuming and
available fungicides. Can you explain what lies behind this difference of strongly limited treatment possibilities. Disease
opinion? levels would be much higher due to poor and
unreliable control of core diseases, and an ina-
If one just considers high-dose laboratory experiments for the identification bility to eradicate established diseases.
of toxic effects from pesticides, such as fungicides, then one is probably Our analysis shows the importance of maintai-
not getting the whole picture related to exposure and effects. As an ning as broad a spectrum of plant protection
environmental toxicologist, my view is that we must take laboratory data products as possible to avoid the growth of
and then consider environmentally realistic exposure scenarios when we are disease resistance. The azoles are important
evaluating dose response and conducting a risk assessment. because of their curative as well as protective
properties. Maintaining access for farmers will
reduce the pressure to increase more than pro-
portionately usage of other, less effective, subs-
titutes.”
iMPriNt
Prof. Dr. Schmitz headed a joint research study
BASF SE Rainer von Mielecki between Trinity College Dublin and the Institute
of Agribusiness published in April 2011, entit-
Agricultural Center Limburgerhof AP/K – Public/Government Affairs led: “Restricted avai-
AP/K - LI555 Phone: +49 (0) 621 / 60-27 511 lability of azole based
fungicides: impacts on
67117 Limburgerhof Fax: +49 (0) 621 / 60-27 512
EU farmers and crop
Germany rainer.mielecki@basf.com agriculture” http://
www.agribusiness.de/
images/stories/pdf/iab_
www.agro.basf.com nr_27_triazole.pdf