Minor crops are high in value but usually not widely grown. Therefore, it is usually not profitable for private business to register the pesticide for minor crops as the low sales are insufficient to cover the cost of collecting data for pesticide registration. The situation is not only challenging China’s pesticide management but also growth of agricultural economy.
China is well known for abundant solutions to crop protection, and the markets for large crops are usually flooded with identical products. However, the pesticides for minor crops turn out to be an underserved and under-developed area in China. There are hundreds of abamectin formulations or combinations registered with ICAMA and more than 7,000 ICAMA registrations for wheat, whereas the minor crop sectors are vulnerable to the “incurable” pests and diseases due to the regulatory underdevelopment. As surveyed from 29 provincial areas, there are 911 products used on 249 kinds of minor crops, but only 190 of the products have been registered with ICAMA.
Zhejiang, a leading agrochemical manufacturing province and well-known for its efficiency agriculture with cash crops such as red bayberry, mulberry and Chinese medical herbs, is also troubled with the illegal uses of mancozeb, fenvalerate, carbendazim and other highly toxic insecticides. Furthermore, the crop protection products are often excessively and incorrectly sprayed on the crops, which pose major threats towards food safety and public health. Below is a summary of the ICAMA registered pesticide for minor crops.
Table1 some minor crops, pests and the registration status of the pesticides
Minor Crop | Major Pest | Number of Registered Products | Active Ingredient |
mushroom | whit rot; brown rot; mycogone perniciosa magn; nematode; mushroom fly; mosquito | 5 | prochloraz-manganese chloride complex; thiabendazole |
pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) | trichoderma; green mold; yellow mold; rhizopus; Blight; mushroom maggot; mushroom mite; springtail | 2 | sodium dichloroisocyanurate |
lentinula edodes (Shiitake) | trichoderma; neurospora; mucor; red mite; mushroom mite | 0 |
|
pleurotus eryngi (Pleurotus eryngi) | springtail; nematode; mushroom maggot; | 0 |
|
vigna radiata (Mung Bean; Green Gram ) | viral disease; brown spot; anthracnose; rust disease; leaf spot; foot rot; aphid; soil-born insects | 3 | phoxim; thiram; quizalofop-P-ethyl; fomesafen; clethodim |
red adzuki bean | rust disease; leaf spot; foot rot; aphid; springtail; thrips; soil-born insects | 3 | quizalofop-P-ethyl; metolachlor; fomesafen; clethodim |
allium fistulosum (Chinese onion) | damping-off; purple blotch; downy mildew; grey mould; black spot; brown spot; Verticillium wilt; nematode; thrips; Liriomyza | 2 | cyantraniliprole; atrazine; alachlor |
Zingiber officinale Rosc. ( Zingiber officinale Rosc.) | ginger blast; ginger rot; pyralis | 0 |
|
allium sativum (garlic) | leaf blight; white rot; liriomyza; root maggot; garlic maggot | 57 | choline chloride; 1-naphthyl acetic acid; malathion; phoxim; prochloraz-manganese chloride complex; prochloraz; difenoconazole; napropamide; s-metolachlor; pendimethalin; prometryn; oxyfluorfen, alachlor, acetochlor, atrazine, bromoxynil octanoate; butralin; oxadiazon |
Radix Notoginseng (Notoginseng / Pseudoginseng) | Stump rot; blight; foot rot; powdery mildew; anthracnose; Red mite; aphid; coccid | 2 | bacillus subtilis; difenoconazole |
Panax Ginseng | stump rot; blight; rusty root rot; black spot; grub; mole cricket wireworm; cutworm | 24 | azoxystrobin; polyoxin; gibberellin; |
Barbary Wolfberry Fruit | colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz; foot rot; leeding disease; fruit fly; aphid; crioceridae; woodlouse; Jaapiella sp; rust mite; eriophyoid mite | 3 | sulfur; alpha-cypermethrin |
Avena sativa(oats) | loose smut; sheath blight; rust disease; leaf spot; powdery mildew; aphid; Red mite | 0 |
|
fagopyrum esculentum (Buckwheat ) | ring rot; brown rot; fusarium; stump rot; sclerotinia bligh; armyworm; meadow moth; limacodid moth | 0 |
|
lotus nut | rhizome rot ; aphid; prodenia litura (fabricius); flower bud; naiades cantrainii | 0 |
|
flos lonicerae ( honeysuckle stem) | brown spot; powdery mildew; anthracnose; rust disease; aphid; cerambycidae; inchworm; sawfly | 0 |
|
bulbus lilii | stump rot; stripe rust; rhizoctonia; peronophythora; pythium disease， foot rot; grey mould; aphid; soil-born insects | 4 | chloropicrin; fludioxonil; cyprodinil; trichoderma harzianum; 1-methylcyclopropene(1-MCP); |
dioscorea opposite (nagaimo) | brown spot; anthracnose; rust disease; foot rot; sawfly; root nematodiasis; pleonomus canaliculatus | 0 |
|
radix isatidis | downy mildew; rust disease; aphid; caterpillar | 0 |
|
broadleaf Holly tea | bud blight; colletotrichum camelliae; aphid; tea geometrid; tea leafhopper; euproctis pseudoconspersa; acaphylla theae; red mite; aphid; adoxophyes sp. ; scirtothrips dorsalis | 0 |
|
In response to the low margin and high risk to the private business, Zhejiang granted policy supports to the crop protection products by allocating 4 million Yuan for pesticide registration. The local applicants who register the products would be rewarded 14,000 to 20,000 Yuan. The efficacy, residue, toxicity and environmental tests have been conducted for 28 products. It is expected that 20 minor crops in Zhejiang will be equipped with pest management technologies in the next several years.
Zhejiang’s initiative has not only been welcomed by the crop growers but also acknowledged by other provinces. After Zhejiang’s reporting of its current project progress, ICAMA drafted a program on the pesticide for vegetables and specialty crops and an expert symposium was held in Beijing on July 8, 2013. The program is to establish special registration policies and procedures for minor use pesticide. The IR-4 Project in the United States is highly regarded by China officials and it is hoped that expansion of agricultural production could be accelerated by facilitating the registration of the pesticides for minor crops.
