Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
and
Good Warehousing Practice (GWP)
in cocoa production and trade
Yaoundé, 8/5/2011
Roy Bateman
http://www.dropdata.org
Prevention (not cure!)
Pest problems
Where are pesticides used?
A Manual
Good Agricultural & Warehouse Practices
IPM (and RPU)
What to Apply?
How to apply pesticides?
When to apply?
MRLs: case studies and communication
Policy issues
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Cocoa pesticides are there
for a reason
Black pod diseases:
Phytophthora spp. especially
P. megakarya
losses of ~90% if left untreated
respond well to chemical
control …
… coupled with good cultural
practices (crop sanitation,
shade management, etc.)
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Phytophthora disease control
Traditionally: copper (oxide,
hydroxide, oxychloride etc.)
protective: since 1760s
enhanced control with
copper mixed with
metalaxyl (1977; ~M: 1996)
other new(ish) AIs promoted
(e.g. Carboxylic Acid Amide
compounds: 1990s)
- but are they what
farmers want to use?
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Insects
“Mirid blast” (tree die back)
Crop loss estimates (Ghana ann.
of about 100,000 T)
… so they are sprayed with insecticides
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Originally with insecticides such as
HCH (lindane): 1950s - 2001
Cl
H
H
Cl
H
H
Cl
Cl
Photo: GA Matthews
H
Cl
Cl
Long residual
contact action
Some fumigant
activity
Broad spectrum
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Now recommended:
- pyrethroids
- neo-nicotinoids
Insect Photos courtesy FERA, UK
Storage pests
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Insects or residues?
Possibly an important source of high residues
especially sprays to sacks?
Phasing out of methyl bromide, heavy
reliance on phostoxin:
resistance issues?
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… all of which may leave residues
New regulations for residues on commodities
in the EU, Japan & USA.
Shipments of cocoa have been rejected by
Japan (including herbicide residues).
September 2008: EC/396/2005 came into
force
 MRLs first published as Regulation 149/2008/EC
 residue tolerances of obsolete compounds (not
Annex I,II) at default MRL of 0.01 mg/kg (ppm)
Improved analytical methods?
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Complicated and interdisciplinary, so…
Specific advice
requested from ICCO
member countries
Neglected subject, no
existing manual
focusing on pesticide
issues in cocoa
Responsible
pesticide use and its
role in IPM
http://www.dropdata.org
Context
GAP, GWP: Good Agricultural
IPM: Integrated
Responsible
Use of
Pesticides
Pest Management
(& Warehouse) Practices
http://www.dropdata.org
Good Agricultural Practice
Good Warehouse Practice
Frequently quoted: “must be
produced according to GAP”
FAO - “practices that address
environmental, economic and
social sustainability for on-farm
processes, and result in safe
and quality food and non-food
agricultural product”
What does this mean in
practice?
http://www.dropdata.org
Responsible Pesticide Use (RPU)
a sub-set of GAP and IPM:
targeting …
How to apply?
What to apply?
When to
apply?
http://www.dropdata.org
Overall objectives of manual
Sharing information on pesticide science
Connecting interests of cocoa and other
stakeholders
Policies: residue
requirements in
consumer countries
Practices:
in the field
and warehouse
Emphasising
Needs for:
“safety” issues … - extension
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- R&D
What do we mean by safety?
… starting in the field
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“Full protective clothing should always be
worn when using pesticides”
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Photos: GA Matthews
The reality?
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Contents
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Introduction (regulatory)
Back-ground
Pesticides and their properties
Safety, residues (and how to manage them)
Good agricultural practices “How to do?”
Good crop storage practices
Recommendations
Appendices
‘Case study’ boxes
(including ‘positive’ and
‘negative’ AI lists)
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Introduction and background
Update on legislation (e.g. 91/414/EEC to be
repealed 14 June 2011 and replaced by EC
1107/2009)
 Message - stay ‘ahead of the game’
 Pesticide names and formulations: importance of
accuracy
Biological activity,
modes of transfer
Modes of action
“Technical problems”
resistance, resurgence
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Good Agricultural Practice
starts in the pesticide store: pesticide selection
Lists are unavoidable(?)
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Pesticide lists: Appendix 3
(1st Edition had 2 categories)
A. ‘Strategic list’ for key pests: EU/Japanese/US
import tolerances and evidence of efficacy
B. Compounds to be used with great CAUTION
(limited time remaining, etc)
C. Lists of experimental and other potentially
useful control agents
D. Pesticides that MUST NOT BE USED for
cocoa
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Criteria for inclusion on ‘Strategic list’
EU, Japanese, (US) import tolerances;
 EU MRLs and their status should be checked
regularly; those listed here refer to “Cocoa
(fermented beans)” as in Reg. (EC) No 396/2005.
show acceptable levels of low mammalian
toxicity and environmental impact …
do not belong to the highest toxicity group
WHO/EPA Class.I.
have proven efficacious against an
important pest species of cocoa, as published
in (preferably refereed) literature
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Legal and practical notice
Manual stresses the need for accuracy
and specificity, so for practical reasons
individual compounds are discussed:
sometimes in detail, but …
Inclusion of compounds or products in the
text is for illustration only and does not
imply recommendation or otherwise
Nevertheless, an attempt is made to
identify ‘strategic pesticides for cocoa’
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Pesticide labels:
(Trade names are for Marketing!)
Should be part of the registration process
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Labels in China
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National organisations primarily
responsible for pesticide registration
Cameroon:
Department of Regulation and Quality Control of Inputs and
Agricultural Products (MINADER)
Côte d’Ivoire:
Direction de la Protection des Végétaux, du Contrôle et de la
Qualité, (DPVCQ/MINAGRI), Abidjan
Ghana:
Environmental Protection Agency (Ministry of Food and
Agriculture), Accra
Nigeria:
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC) HQ: Abuja; cocoa issues: Lagos office
Togo:
Laboratoire de l’Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique
(ITRA)
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Contents (continued)
What are MRLs?
 Not measures of safety!
 Standard methods in
future editions?
Good agricultural
practices …
dosage
How to avoid exceeding
them
Hazards and risks
Environmental safety
Assessment of residues
Double rate
Label rate
Half rate
MRL
http://www.dropdata.org
PHI
time after application
Application, starting with suggesting to
farmers that tall trees are difficult:
to spray
to harvest
http://www.dropdata.org
courtesy J. Cooper
to monitor
Application: the importance of nozzles!
… seeing “spray to run-off” as wasteful - costs money!
http://www.dropdata.org
“Modern pesticides are too expensive”
Spraying less by improving efficiency
Conflict of interest with suppliers of
pesticides (main source of profit) also
selling sprayers
http://www.dropdata.org
High herbicide residues
Most unlikely to
originate from
cocoa field
e.g. 2,4-D: volatile
Focus on quality
along the whole
supply chain
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Drying:
also about
PAH,
M-OTA, etc.
http://www.dropdata.org
Recommendations
Harmonisation of standards by
importing countries
Strategic cocoa pesticides
 Regional recommendations?
Strengthening of registration
R&D, communication: putting
responsible pesticide use back
“on the agenda” (in FFS etc.)
Developing skills in pesticide
science
http://www.dropdata.org
‘Next generation’
of pesticide
scientists?
many thanks in
advance for your
further ideas and
comments (for 3rd
edition end 2011)
websites:
Download from:
http://www.icco.org/sps
http://www.dropdata.org
/cocoa