I was fortunate to be invited to attend the joint sitting of COPA and COGECA secretariats that preside over the technical aspects of plant protection with in the EU. Key observations for me were the length of time spent negotiating the particulars of crop protection methods ( upwards of 5 years), be they chemical or IPM, during the 1990's farmers in the EU had over 3000 actives to use in plant protection they now have less than 300, this is a result of resistance levels of pests increasing and finally Glyphosate will be on the EU watch list ( which may result in a ban on its use), within 5 years.
Great informative day, such a short time in Brussels not really able to appreciate the culture, history or people.
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