A CALL has been made to unite the industry in an attempt to make sure that the important potato storage chemical, chlorpropham, remains allowable in the UK.

The sprout supressant – known as CIPC – has been the subject of a increasing strict registration regime, but recently the 'Task Force' which had been set up to monitor its use, called for a united approach to help keep it on the market.

At the recent BP 2017, in Harrogate, Tjaart Hofman, portfolio development manager at Certis Europe and speaking on behalf of the stewardship group, urged industry stakeholders to share their experiences with the active substance and to reiterate its importance to the sector.

“CIPC re-registration will be concluded early next year. This Task Force is working closely together to collect all available data and answer any potential questions regulators may have to ensure CIPC continues to bring major benefits to the potato industry in the future.

“The potato processing industry has evolved significantly over the last 30 years, with the European potato sector now worth approximately €19.4bn. Of that figure, 50% is represented by the processing sector specifically.

“Europe remains the second largest producer of potatoes worldwide and is the biggest exporter of frozen potato produce globally. The volume of frozen potato produce exported outside the EU has increased from 0.685m tonnes of potatoes to 1.3m tonnes of potatoes in the last 10 years.

“This guaranteed year-round supply of potato produce is only made possible through access to crop protection products that help maintain crop quality in long-term storage, and most importantly CIPC.”

Dr Mike Storey, chair of the CIPC stewardship group added that growers have a role to play. “This is a critical time for the UK potato sector and at farm-level we also need to work together to ensure there is no exceedance of the current CIPC MRL levels, and that Be CIPC Compliant stewardship guidelines are followed and maintained.

“Without CIPC, there will inevitably be an impact on production and storage capabilities, so it’s important that the industry acts now to raise awareness of the lack of valid alternatives, to secure the future of this active.”

How to comply:

The latest changes to CIPC product labels, introducing new requirements for lower application rates, have been confirmed by the CRD (Chemicals Regulation Division).

* Critically, fans will be required as part of the application process and CIPC must be actively recirculated during application and until the fog has cleared. The ‘No fan, no fog’ campaign has been running for three years in preparation for this decision.

* The National Association of Agricultural Contractors' CIPC applicators group has confirmed that applications will not be made if fog is not able to be recirculated.

* For this season, the new statutory limits for total dose, approved by the CRD of HSE are 36 grams/tonne for processing and 24 g/t for the fresh market.

* The maximum individual dose is reduced to 12g/tonne and the latest time of application is 14 days before removal from store for sale or processing.

* Stewardship best practice, endorsed by the NAAC’s CIPC Applicator Group and Red Tractor Farm Assurance, continues to allow just one application (now up to 12 g/t) in cold stores as CIPC residue declines more slowly at low temperature. This applies to all stores that will be held below 5°C. This application should be made early in storage during pull-down, before the temperature is decreased below 7°C, for maximum efficacy.

* Stores with positive ventilation (bulk stores and some box stores), active recirculation is most easily achieved by fitting a variable frequency drive fan through the store’s ventilation system. In overhead throw box stores, active recirculation can be brought about using an air separator or duct at the end of the store to create an ‘open suction’ system. Alternatively, fan-assisted plenums placed within box stacks will ensure active recirculation can be achieved.