UK: Beneficial wheat fungicides risk being outlawed

The main group of fungicides used to protect European wheat crops could be outlawed under plans being proposed by the EU Agriculture Council, says an Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) bulletin in the UK. The coming change to a hazard-based system replacing the current risk-based system could mean the loss of whole groups of chemicals, including a group known as the triazoles that is used throughout Europe to combat mould problems in wheat. A statement in the UK from the National Farmers Union said the crop protection products were safe in practice and abandoning them would have a huge effect on wheat crops across Europe.