Pesticide use in sugar beet cultivation in Germany and assessment of the associated environmental risks using the risk indicator SYNOPS‐GIS

Abstract

BACKGROUND The assessment of the environmental risks for pesticides is a current topic of the European Union (EU) strategy ‘Farm to Fork’. Therefore, an analysis of the status quo of pesticide use from 2010 to 2015 and the associated environmental risks was performed for sugar beet cultivation in Germany. Based on this assessment, crop protection strategies should be developed that contribute to risk reduction. RESULTS Pesticide use data from 2314 randomly chosen sugar beet growing farms were available from annual farm surveys from 2010 until 2015. Possible environmental risks from pesticide applications were calculated with the model SYNOPS‐GIS. Each pesticide application pattern was combined with several model fields. The concentrations of active ingredients in the non‐target compartments, namely soil, neighboring surface waters and field margins, were used to determined risk indices (exposure toxicity ratios, ETRs) for different terrestrial and aquatic reference species. ETRs were mainly lower than a risk threshold used throughout this study (ETR = 1). The risks caused by herbicide use were studied in more detail since herbicides are applied on nearly all fields. The aquatic risks posed by herbicides were independent of specific active ingredients or application patterns. Instead, certain combinations of active ingredients, application dates and field‐specific environmental conditions provoked higher risks. The aquatic risks were strongly influenced by the distance of the fields to surface waters. CONCLUSIONS Further risk mitigation seems possible by combining field‐specific measures and technical options. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Toxicological risk assessment of mechanical-chemical vs. chemical weed control techniques in sugar beet in Germany using SYNOPS-GIS

“…SYNOPS considers the Corg-dependent distribution coefficient to estimate the fraction of AI that remains in the soil and is not exposed to surface runoff (Strassemeyer et al, 2017). Nause et al (2021) also reported that sugar beet fields with elevated aquatic risk had shorter distance to water bodies compared to those with lower aquatic risk indices. The 90th percentile of chronic aquatic risk (ETR C(aq) ) and the 90th percentile of acute risk for non-target organisms in field margins (ETR A(FM) ) remained very low in all SCRs and are not shown here.…”

“…The generalized application pattern of a CEPI region, however, considers only an average of used applications, while the strategies used especially in challenging fields with water proximity or erosion risk are not taken into account. The spectrum and frequency of active ingredients used for weed control in sugar beet was reviewed by Roßberg et al (2017) and Nause et al (2021). Nause et al (2021) quantified the aquatic risk associated with the application of individual active ingredients and found that increased aquatic risk was not due to application of individual active ingredients or their application rate, but rather due to combinations of active ingredients, application dates and fieldspecific environmental conditions.…”

“…The spectrum and frequency of active ingredients used for weed control in sugar beet was reviewed by Roßberg et al (2017) and Nause et al (2021). Nause et al (2021) quantified the aquatic risk associated with the application of individual active ingredients and found that increased aquatic risk was not due to application of individual active ingredients or their application rate, but rather due to combinations of active ingredients, application dates and fieldspecific environmental conditions. Our study showed significant differences between the different soil-climate regions in toxicological risk to both aquatic and soil organisms.…”

“…The regional approach of SYNOPS-GIS is to apply the field specific assessments of SYNOPS on all fields in a considered region and aggregate them on regional level. Nause et al (2021) assessed the risks of broadcast applications of different herbicides using SYNOPS-GIS based on herbicide application data from 2314 randomly selected sugar beet fields. They showed that some combinations of active ingredients, application dates and fieldspecific environmental conditions provoked higher risks, although in most cases the risks were below the "elevated risk level" of ETR=1.…”

Pesticide reduction amidst food and feed security concerns in Europe

“…Globally, around one-third of the cross-country differences in pesticide pollution risk are linked to differences in the underlying food systems and pesticide regulations 17 . Various studies have found sizeable variability in pesticide use not only across different years and regions within a country, but also across farms that faced the same environmental and socio-economic conditions 12 , 13 , 18 , 19 . Potential gains in efficiency were not accounted for in the impact analyses.…”