Pesticide Usage Report: Arable Crops 2022

Summary

This is the seventeenth survey of pesticide usage practices on arable crops in Northern Ireland.  Information on all aspects of pesticide usage was collected from 71 holdings throughout the province, representing 9% of the total area of arable crops grown (Table 1). Quantitative data has been adjusted to provide estimates of total pesticide usage.

The total area of arable crops grown in Northern Ireland in 2022 was 34,756 hectares   (Table 2).  This represented a decrease of 4% compared to that recorded in 2020 and a 44% reduction compared to that recorded in the first pesticide usage survey of the arable sector, in 1990.  Approximately 48% of the arable cropping area in 2022 was in County Down, 26% in County Londonderry, 14% in County Antrim, 9% in County Armagh and 3% in County Tyrone.  There was no significant area of arable cropping in County Fermanagh. 

A total of 247 products, comprising 110 active substances were recorded in use on field crops in this survey compared with 307 products and 105 active substances used in 2020.  No fallow, organic, undersown or cover crops were recorded during this survey period.  Spring barley, winter barley and winter wheat collectively accounted for 79% of all arable crops grown in Northern Ireland in 2022.  The total weight of pesticide active substances applied to arable crops in 2022 decreased from 106,968 kilogrammes in 2020 to 92,551 kilogrammes, representing a 13% decrease from 2020 and a 24% decrease from 2018.

Spring barley represented 37% of the area of crops grown (Table 3) and accounted for 29% of the total area of arable crops treated (Table 5) and 19% of the weight of pesticides applied (Table 6).  Since 2012, the area of spring wheat crops grown decreased by 35% whilst during the same period the area of winter barley crops grown increased by 49%. 

Compared with 2020, the area of arable crops treated with fungicides decreased by 6% and 31% of the total weight applied.  Winter wheat received the most fungicide treatments, accounting for 37% of the fungicide-treated area and 39% of the weight applied.  The organic compound and multi-site fungicide, folpet, was the most frequently applied to cereal crops, in particular winter wheat, winter barley and spring barley.

Herbicide and desiccant applications decreased by 2% of both the area treated and weight applied when compared with 2020.  The broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant, glyphosate, was the most frequently applied, mainly to spring barley and maincrop potatoes, and accounted for 18% of all herbicide and desiccant applications and 42% of the weight applied. 

Insecticide applications increased by 17% when compared with 2020, although the weight applied decreased by 29%.  The pyrethroid insecticides lambda-cyhalothrin and esfenvalerate accounted for 57% and 37% of the area treated and 38% and 18% of the weight applied, respectively.  Spring barley received 36% of all insecticide applications, which were used exclusively for ‘aphids’ and ‘general insect control’.  Flonicamid, a relatively unique pyridine insecticide which acts as a feeding disruptor, was used on seed potatoes and winter barley, also for ‘aphids’ and ‘general insect control’. 

Following a significant rise in molluscicide use in 2020, mainly due to an increase of applications to maincrop potatoes, the area treated with this pesticide type has decreased by 71% and the weight applied by 86%.  Maincrop potatoes continue to be the primary crop treated with molluscicides, accounting for 92% of both the area treated and weight applied.  Ferric phosphate was the only molluscicide recorded during this reporting period, with ‘slugs’ given as the only reason for use.   

Growth regulator applications increased by 10% of the area treated and 9% of the weight applied when compared to 2020.  The principal growth regulators used were chlormequat and trinexapac-ethyl which is consistent with previous surveys conducted between 2006 and 2020.  Growth regulators were applied primarily to spring barley, winter barley and winter wheat, collectively accounting for 91% of the area treated and 84% of the weight applied. 

Although seed treatment applications decreased by 9% of the treated area when compared with 2020, the weight applied increased by 88%, mainly due to the variation in seed volume and seed treatment application rates for different crops.  The phenylpyrrole fungicide seed treatment, fludioxonil, accounted for 61% of the seed-treated area and 24% of the weight of seed treatments applied.  Conversely, the systemic fungicide flutalonil accounted for 4% of the area treated with seed treatments and 43% of the weight applied.

Adjuvants, foliar feeds, trace elements and other treatments not classified as plant protection products are included in this report due to their extensive use in arable crop cultivation and production.

Potato crops comprised 10% of the area of arable crops grown in Northern Ireland in 2022, accounting for 20% of the total pesticide-treated area (Tables 3 & 5) and 29% of the weight of all pesticides applied.  Potato crops comprised 11% of seed and 89% maincrop potatoes.  No first or second early potato crops were recorded during this survey period.  Potatoes accounted for 30% of the area treated with fungicides and 40% of the weight of fungicides applied.  Herbicides and desiccants applied to potato crops represented 17% of the area treated and 30% of the weight of this pesticide group.  Potato crops received more pesticide treatments than any other arable crop (Table 7). 

In previous years, data relating to post-harvest potato storage methods and quantities were collected.  Unfortunately, due to difficulties with data collection following the Covid-19 pandemic, it has not been possible to collect these data with any reliability and they have therefore been omitted from this report.  Comparison data for potato storage from previous years is included in Tables 33-35.

The full list of active substances recorded in 2022 are in Tables 8 & 9 and the list of fifty of the most commonly used substances (including ‘other treatments’) and prioritised by application area and weight applied, is provided in Tables 10 & 11.