2013, June: Workshop on the efficacy of pesticides

In June a workshop was organized on the development  of the evaluation system for efficacy of chemical pesticides and on the efficacy of bio- pesticides. 

The first two days concerned efficacy testing of bio-pesticides. The workshop was attended by representatives of EIAR research stations and universities and it was focussed on the practical considerations at trial conduct with bio-pesticides.

Experiences with efficacy testing of bio-pesticides were shared and discussions were held on issues like reference products, the trial conditions and the difference between the claim “control� and “reduction�. The final output is a Bio-pesticide Testing Guideline in which deviations, considerations and recommend-dations are given and can be used for the development of efficacy testing protocols with a bio-pesticide.

Another two days were spend with the evaluators of APHRD. Together with the development of an efficacy evaluation manual the evaluation of bio-pesticides was also handled. Emphasis was given to the specific situations that may involve a bio-pesticide. For example, a lower effectiveness may be accepted when a product (often a bio-pesticide) allows the implementation of IPM. Nevertheless it had to be concluded that also for many aspects of efficacy testing no differences exist between the conventional chemical pesticides and bio-pesticides.