Australian sugarcane growers given two years to phase out paraquat
Australian sugarcane growers will have two years to completely stop using the herbicide paraquat on this crop. The decision was made by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), which considers the use of the substance on sugarcane an unacceptable risk to birds foraging in treated fields.
As ABC News Australia reports, in June the APVMA released a review of paraquat and diquat, substantially reducing the permitted application rates of these substances for most field crops. For sugarcane, the regulator provided for the deregistration of the product after a transition period.
Regulator's position
The APVMA said it had separately assessed each paraquat use pattern under current environmental standards. According to the authority's findings, previously permitted methods of application on sugarcane create acute and chronic exposure risks for birds. Therefore, these use patterns were not retained on the list of permitted product label uses.
The regulator acknowledged that farmers would likely need to change their approaches to weed control. At the same time, the APVMA assigned the issue of the availability of alternatives and the economic consequences of such changes to the responsibility of growers, advisers, the industry and state governments.
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Farmers' concerns
Canegrowers chief executive Dan Galligan said the lack of a replacement is causing concern among growers. Paraquat is used at an early stage of planting because it quickly kills weeds and does not remain in the soil, allowing young cane to establish roots.
According to Galligan, Sugar Research Australia is searching for suitable alternatives, but there is no timeframe for their emergence. He suggested that changing the cultivation system could require greater use of other herbicides and potentially increase sediment losses from fields.
Farmers in Far North Queensland also disagree with the findings on the risk to birds. Grower Bryce McDonald said he had not seen birds killed by paraquat. Farmer Adrian Crema stressed that paraquat allows farms to use minimum tillage, reducing soil disturbance and runoff toward the Great Barrier Reef.
After the restrictions are introduced, paraquat may still be used in the same fields for fallow areas, field edges and firebreaks, but not directly on sugarcane.
