Almond Board of California (ABC) works very closely with the Almond Alliance of California to submit comments on a variety of published regulations. Recently the Almond Alliance submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on three pesticides undergoing registration review on behalf of ABC and the almond industry. For each, we provided usage rates and trends for the past five years, emphasized the important role these products play in continued production and highlighted how availability of products with multiple modes of action helps reduce the risk of resistance development.
The EPA is required to review each pesticide every 15 years to ensure that they continue to satisfy the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) standard for registration and can still be used without unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment.
The three pesticides included in the comments were Cyprodinil (Vangard, Inspire Super), which is used to treat fungal diseases including brown rot blossom blight, green fruit rot (jacket rot) and shot hole; 2,4-D, an important herbicide for the California Almond industry; and Clothianidin – neonicotinoids and assessments of their potential impact to pollinators were the focus of these comments. This preliminary bee risk assessment covered clothianidin and thiamethoxam, although only clothianidin is used in almonds. Clothianidin (Belay) is one of few alternatives available to control leaffooted bug and stink bugs and would be increasingly important if access to other alternatives, such as chlorpyrifos (Lorsban) and pyrethroids (e.g. Warrior, Brigade, etc), was lost (the Almond Alliance previously submitted comments on both, which are still under review by the EPA).
We will continue to keep you apprised of regulatory comments submitted on behalf of the California Almond industry.
