Paraquat re-registered in the Philippines

Paraquat was granted a full re-registration in the Philippines on 22 October 2008 for a further three years.  This followed a full and detailed scientific review by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority of the Philippines.  This is excellent news for the country’s 90 million inhabitants for whom agriculture is a very significant part of their economy. 

For 12 million farmers, it means they can continue to use paraquat as an essential tool in their efforts to grow food, make an important contribution to the country’s export earnings from crops like coconuts, bananas and pineapples, and protect the soil from erosion.

Paraquat can be used on a vast range of crops grown in the Philippines from staples like rice, to indigenous vegetables, to plantation crops. It means more work can be done more quickly and more productively, without damaging crops, and while caring for the soil.

Paraquat can be used on a vast range of crops grown in the Philippines from staples like rice, to indigenous vegetables, to plantation crops. It means more work can be done more quickly and more productively, without damaging crops, and while caring for the soil. 

Farming is one of the Philippines’ most important industries. More than one worker in three works on a farm. A large majority of farms are very small; average size is 2 ha.  Apart from feeding a densely populated country, farmers earn export revenue, especially from plantation crops like coconuts, bananas, and pineapples.  However, agricultural imports now exceed exports and rice imports have risen sharply, pointing to the importance of growing sufficient food.  Farmers must also look after the land to ensure continued productivity by maintaining or improving the quality of the soil and biodiversityDescription The variety of life in all its forms, levels and combinations. Includes ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity (IUCN, UNEP and WWF, 1991). Authoritative On-line References and Resources http://earthtrends.wri.org/ EarthTrends is a comprehensive online database, maintained by the World Resources Institute, that focuses on environmental, social, and economic trends. Statistics on biodiversity indicators are available..

 

Farming Facts about the Philippines

• 36% of workers have jobs on farms
• 4.8 million farms cover 9.7 million ha – 81% are less than 3 ha
• 19% of GDP is down to agriculture
• 6% of exports are from agriculture
• 886,000 tonnes of rice were imported in 2003 - by 2005 this had risen to 1.8 million tonnes

 
A particular issue is the tendency for over-worked soils to erode, especially from fields on steeper gradients. The Philippines Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Soils and Water Management estimates that more than 600 million tonnes of soil are lost to erosion every year.

Farmers traditionally plough as the first of several cultivations to prepare a seedbed and control weeds.  This incurs high costs, takes a lot of time and leads to soil erosionDescription Displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock and other particles) usually by the agents of currents such as, wind, water, or ice by downward or down-slope movement. Authoritative On-line References and Resources http://soilerosion.net/ This site brings together reliable information on soil erosion from a wide range of disciplines and sources. It aims to be the definitive internet source for those wishing to find out more about soil loss and soil conservation.. Later, when crops are established, weeding is a major burden on farmers and their families.

However, paraquat can be used for weed management by two techniques:  Bilis Saka is used to establish crops in a weed-free soil without the need to plough and Bilis Linis allows weeds growing between the rows of plants to be controlled without fear of damaging the crop. Paraquat is ideal for these innovative but simple techniques because of its very rapid, rainfast action, because it does not move around inside plants to kill buds in roots and shoots, and because it is immobilised and inactivated immediately on contact with soil.

Field trial results have shown the benefits from not ploughing and using paraquat for weed control. On a site growing upland rice, annual loss of soil in plots farmed in the traditional way was more than 20 tonnes/ha, while in the plots where paraquat was used, only 6.7 tonnes/ha of soil were eroded – a statistically significant difference. This was because the soil was not disturbed by ploughing and because paraquat is only used when weeds become competitive, otherwise providing a protective vegetative cover to the soil. Even when weed shoots are quickly desiccated by paraquat the roots remain to anchor the soil.