Value of Neonicotinoids
Value of Neonicotinoids. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.
Neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine. They are widely used in a variety of crops including tree fruit. Dr. Pete Nowak, with AgInfomatics was asked to study the economic and societal value of neonicotinoids.
NOWAK: If the EPA's going to establish some sort of regulatory setting for neonicotinoids then they have to understand the value of this insecticide. Recognizing that value, while we read about it all the time out there, the theoretical problems or supposed problems associated with neonicotinoids there's really been nothing out there on the value.
Syngenta, Bayer and Valent got together to create Growing Matters to look at the value.
NOWAK: They got together a little over a year ago, began discussing this and decided to commission a study. We've been working on it now for approximately a year and what we decided to do was to take a very multi-dimensional approach to establishing value. Besides the hard core econometric analysis we also spent a significant amount of time out listening to the growers and other audiences that use neonicotinoids.
One of those sessions was held in Prosser and was quite instrumental for Dr. Nowak. He says they also did surveys and looked at some old data.
That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
