HC Deb 10 December 1984 vol 69 cc327-8W
Ms. Harman

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to introduce monitoring of pesticide drift on farms to asses the damage done to wildlife.

Mrs. Fenner

It is important to differentiate between spray drift, which is most likely to affect growth of adjacent plants, and the possible direct effects of pesticide use or misuse on wildlife. My Department already monitors the national situation for both, through a system of reporting incidents of spray drift and by investigating, under the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme, all reported incidents of suspected poisoning of wildlife.

Mr. Dalyell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those insecticides cleared for use on cereals under the pesticides safety precautions scheme to which one or more insect pests of cereals are resistant.

Mrs. Fenner

There are no field insect pests of cereals in the United Kingdom known to be resistant to pesticides.

Mr. Dalyell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those fungicides cleared for use on cereals under the pesticides safety precautions scheme which are known or suspected to have insecticidal properties.

Mrs. Fenner

'Missile' (active ingredient pyrazophos) is the only fungicide cleared under the pesticides safety precaution scheme for use on cereals which is known to have insecticidal properties. An indication of the insecticidal property is given on the product label.

Mr. Dalyell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has as to (a) the number of British insect pests with some resistance to pesticides and (b) the number of insecticides to which one or more pests in Britain are significantly resistant for each of the years 1954 to 1984.

Mrs. Fenner

This information is not readily available on an annual basis for all pesticide uses. However, since 1954, about 28 pest species have shown resistance to a range of organophosphorous insecticides. Resistance has involved about 25 insecticides over the same period. These figures cover agriculture and horticulture, public hygiene and food storage.

Mr. Dalyell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the costs to agriculture of pest resistance in total, and for each of insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, separately, in each of the years from 1970 to 1984.

Mrs. Fenner

I regret that there is no quantitative basis for providing the information requested by the hon. Member. The development of resistance to a certain pesticide does not necessarily lead to a breakdown of control or added cost, because of the availability of alternative remedies; and fluctuations in production cannot readily be assigned to any one pest, weather pattern, or other influence.