LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Britain’s farming and environment ministry on Friday issued an emergency temporary authorisation for the use of a neonicotinoid pesticide treatment on the 2022 sugar beet crop due to the risk posed by virus yellows.
Virus yellows, which is spread by aphids, can lead to significant yield loss in sugar beet.
The move applies only to England as agriculture is devolved in Britain.
The ministry said the authorisation was subject to several conditions including a prohibition on any flowering crop being planted in the same field where the product has been used within 32 months of a treated sugar beet crop.
The pesticides were banned by the European Union to protect bees and remain so in Britain even though it has now left the trading bloc.
Several other countries have taken similar steps following problems with virus yellows including France where the ban on the use of neonicotinoids on sugar beet crops has been suspended until 2023.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
((nigel.hunt@thomsonreuters.com; +44 (0) 7990 561421; Reuters Messaging: nigel.hunt.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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