What is good - Apples

Further research - Pesticides


Advise about pesticides


EWG dirty dozen


FSA report on pesticides (Food Standards Agency

'Much work has been done by those involved in the UK food industry to keep pesticide residues to a minimum. Many of the measures recommended in this guide have already being adopted by growers.

http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/


British Independant Fruit Growers

To illustrate in monetary terms the need for grower-confidence in our sector, it can now cost in excess of £20,000 per hectare to plant a new orchard, and take at least 5 years before it reaches full cropping. It is essential that such investments cannot be ruined "at a stroke", e.g. by a supermarket buyer (perhaps acting on a whim) deciding to reverse an agreement made by his or her predecessor, and delisting a particular variety which growers had been encouraged to plant. An Adjudicator should be able to monitor such action, and act accordingly.




The Key pests and disease problems- why pesticides are needed

Codling moth

Rosy apple aphid

Apple scab

Brown rot

Details of pesticides currently approved for use on apples in the UK are available on the Pesticides Safety Directorate website (https://secure.pesticides.gov.uk/pestreg/ and https://secure.pesticides.gov.uk/offlabels/search.asp). 

The most commonly used pesticides in apple orchards (excluding herbicides) in 2000 were:

Fungicides - captan, myclobutanil, dithianon and penconazole Insecticides/acaricides – chlorpyrifos, fenoxycarb and pirimicarb PGRs – paclobutrazol, gibberellins

Pesticides are also used on stored crops to prevent disease

Overall, residues were found in 308 samples (62%) of UK apples and 628 samples (58%) of imported apples respectively.

 It should also be noted that some residues detected in imported fruit were of pesticides not now approved for use in the UK or may never have been approved for use on apples in the UK. Pesticides may have an acceptable use in one country but not another, because of different agricultural, climatic and pest conditions.

Assured Produce Scheme (APS) – www.assuredproduce.co.uk UK apple growers were in the vanguard of developing assured produce protocols with their own GroAct scheme, instigated by English Apples and Pears Ltd. This has now been integrated within the Assured Produce Scheme with which the majority of commercial apple growers in the UK are registered. The crop protocol for apples promotes ICM practice and includes advice on pesticide use reduction and minimisation of residues. Assured Produce has developed a specific residue minimisation protocol for apples.