1. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Smart Plant Protection Jens Erik Jensen, DAAS Lise Nistrup Jørgensen, FAS Per Kudsk, FAS Ghita Cordsen Nielsen, DAAS Poul Henning Petersen, DAAS University of Aarhus The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Integrated Pest Management

2. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Outline ► Background – what is special in Denmark? ► Examples of low dose strategies ► Crop Protection Online ► Increasing pesticide use ► Outlook for the future

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4. Pesticide use in Denmark and other countries

5. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Strong collaboration and swift communication Faculty of Agricultural Sciences International Research International Advisory Services and other information sources Danish Agricultural Advisory Service End users - Danish farmers

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10. Pesticide taxes ► Value added taxes - Danish levels  Insecticides – 54%  Herbicides, fungicides, growth regulators – 33% ► Tax proceeds are used to  Support the registration procedure  Funding of agricultural research and development  Partially compensate farmers  etc.

11. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 National Pesticide Action Plans ► Pesticide Action Plan I from 1987 ► Pesticide Action Plan II from 2000 ► Pesticide Plan 2004-2009  As low a pesticide use as possible  A treatment frequency index (TFI) below 1,7 in 2009 TFI: The number of times the agricultural area may be treated with standard doses of pesticides – based on either the official gross sales or the actual amount used on the farm during the production year

12. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Weed control in general ► Herbicides  Should be chosen according to the present weed flora ► Timing  Optimum effect when weeds are small and weather conditions favourable When herbicide choice and timing are optimal, low dosages will suffice!

13. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Weed control in cereals Reduced dosages  Labelled dose of tribenuron-methyl is 7,5 g/ha  Commonly used dosages range from 1 to 4 g/ha ► Mixtures  Broaden weed spectrum  Delay herbicide resistance development  Exploit potential synergy

14. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Weed control in spring barley 130 National Field Trials 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 00,250,50,751 Herbicide TFI Dicot weeds per m 2 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Yield, dt per ha

15. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Fungal diseases in cereals ► More difficult to assess the needs at the time of spraying  Subsequent weather conditions unknown ► Danish monitoring network gives a general view  Helps avoid unnecessary early sprayings ► Ear protection (Septoria control) in winter wheat is almost always profitable

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17. Fungicide TFI and dosage in winter wheat Source: Farmstat/Kleffmann/Pesticide statistics

18. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Margin over fungicide cost for different fungicide dosages applied at GS 51-55 -0,4 -0,2 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 012.5255075100 % of normal dose tonnes per ha normal septoria severe septoria Data from FAS experiments

19. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Septoria control in winter wheat 73 National field trials 1999-2006 Dose, L/ha Net loss compared with optimum, dt/ha

20. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Low dosages = higher uncertainty? (figure 2 on page 3 in Abstracts) ► Are low dosages equivalent to higher economic risks? ► The short answer: No! ► Results from 73 National Field Trials  Reduced dosages (TFI 0.375-0.5) gave best expected net yields and smallest variation

21. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Crop Protection Online (CPO) ► Web-based decision support system integrating available knowledge  Dose-response curves  Thresholds / expected effects  Solutions rated according to price or TFI ► Developed in collaboration  FAS and DAAS ► Several tools regarding  Weeds  Pests and diseases

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23. Crop Protection Online - Weeds

24. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 Crop Protection Online - Weeds Trade nameActual doseMax. doseCost, DKKTFI 26 DKK =3.57 EUR

25. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 The potential of CPO

26. Danish Crop Production Seminar 2007 The potential of using CPO Table 1, page 4 in Abstracts ► Comparison of annual sales statistics with results from CPO testing in National Field Trials ► Fungicides in cereals  No or little potential for further reduction ► Herbicides in winter wheat  36% reduction possible ► Herbicides in spring barley  41% reduction possible

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28. Three decision making strategies System oriented -has a plan -thinks ahead -rational -safe solutions -high TFI Experience based -knows his fields -good at timing -experimenting -follows up -lower TFI Outsourcing -focus in stable -tolerant -advisers give solutions -low TFI May use CPO for planning May use CPO for learningAdviserusesCPO

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30. Why is pesticide use increasing? ► Large structural changes – farms grow bigger  Less time for focusing on each hectare  One filling of sprayer covers several fields ► Despite pesticide taxes, it is cheap to take insurance  Makes time for other farm operations  Labour bottlenecks in growing season  Allows for having summer holidays

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32. Smart crop protection - The future ► Increased taxes, quotas or other economic incentives – not yet decided!! ► Maintain openness regarding field trial results and low dose strategies ► Use the strong engine of CPO with alternative interfaces ► User-driven development of DSS’s ► Research and development regarding cheap monitoring technology and robotics

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