US Farmers Demand More Ozone-Destroying Methyl Bromide

[hatrack]

FRESNO ---- "Neil Nagata, a third-generation farmer, knows his strawberries: the delicate nature of the tangy-sweet, low-lying fruit ---- and their proclivity to pests and infections. That is why he left his 160-acre farm in San Diego County in November for Prague, where he went before a gathering of international scientists and environmentalists to defend methyl bromide, a pesticide farmers have been relying on for decades to sterilize soil and clear it of any fungus, weeds, worms or bacteria that could threaten crops.

The chemical was slated for a worldwide ban in 2005 under the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to reduce the use of substances that deplete the Earth's protective ozone layer. Studies by the National Cancer Institute have also shown that methyl bromide can lead to increased rates of prostate cancer in applicators. Farmers such as Nagata argued that the delay was needed to give the multibillion-dollar agriculture industry time to phase out methyl bromide use and find acceptable alternatives. Americans won international approval to continue using the chemical into 2006 ---- and in greater quantities than in 2003.

Environmentalists, advocates and workers are denouncing the exemption as a dangerous step back, reversing what had been a successful international push to end most uses of the chemical. In California ---- which leads the nation's production of crops that routinely use the chemical, such as strawberries and tomatoes ---- farmers are already looking for alternatives. Roger Wasson, head of California's Strawberry Commission, said that about 30 percent of California's strawberries were grown without methyl bromide in 2003. He estimates that this year, the number will be up to 40 percent.

EDIT

In Prague, ozone experts and representatives from 188 countries who signed the treaty agreed to let the United States use 10,472 tons of the pesticide next year, and about 7,641 in 2006 ---- less than the United States asked for, but more than it used in 2003, when consumption was down to 7,446 tons, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmentalists attending the conference blamed the increase on inflated requests by the United States. "The atmosphere with the Bush administration is that the cupboard is open, and it's time to stick your hands in and ask for a lot," said David Doniger, policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate Center."

EDIT

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/12/08/business/news/12_04_0212_7_04.txt

[jpak]

1. Job Security!!!! Woo hoo!!!

I'm leaving Friday for a 2-month research cruise to the Ross Sea.

We're investigating the effects of enhanced ultraviolet radiation (result of the Ozone Hole) on marine bacteria, protists, phytoplankton and the photochemistry of dissolved organic matter and dimethysulfide.

As long as we continue to pump halogens into the stratosphere, I'll have a job!

THANK YOU CHIMP!!!!!!

[NickB79]

2. Expect to see more of this: soybean rust is now in the US

Since there are no rust-resistant soybean strains currently in production, farmers will have to use vast amounts of fungicides to treat their fields. To do otherwise would risk total crop failure. Considering the massive scale soybean fields cover in the Midwest, we are going to need a lot of fungicide.

[midnight armadillo]

3. Sterile soil? Yikes

So much for any shot at benign beasties helping the strawberries grow.

Maybe their problem is not lack of methyl bromide but rather monoculture and too many chemicals. If the soil is sterilized, the first thing that'll move in are those flora & fauna with a food source - that is, the ones that eat strawberries!