Food Quality Protection Act Impact on California Vegetable Crops
Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis
The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 could potentially have
a large impact on weed management programs for California vegetable crops.
The provisions of the FQPA require the reassessment of all pesticide tolerances
by 2006 (see Appendix I). By August of
1999 the EPA will review the tolerances of pesticides associated with
the greatest risk: organophosphate, carbamate, and organochlorine insecticides,
as well as probable and possible human carcinogens which includes many
herbicides. Most of the herbicides used in vegetables are on this list
(Appendix II). If a tolerance is revoked
by the EPA then that pesticide/commodity combination can no longer be
sold in interstate commerce, i.e., the pesticide is banned.
In an attempt to determine which crops are at the greatest risk of being
disrupted by the FQPA, this report lists the herbicides and soil fumigants
most often used in the major California vegetable crops (Appendix
III-available as pdf only). The crops are listed by 1996 California
acres grown, and the herbicide acres treated are from the California Department
of Pesticide Regulation database, and the report "Agricultural Chemical
Usage: Vegetables 1996". Vegetable acres treated with herbicides listed
in Appendix II are considered "acres at
risk" in Appendix III. California crops
ranked in order of the greatest number of acres at risk are seen in Table
1. The percentage of acres at risk relative to the total number of
acres of that crop were determined in Appendix
III. California crops ranked in order of those with the highest percentage
of acres at risk are shown in Table
2. Note: the percentage of acres at risk exceeded 100% because many
crops are treated with two or more herbicides, and some herbicides are
applied in sequential applications.
Possible objectives to discuss:
Identify those crops in which the weed management system is most at risk to being disrupted by FQPA.
Coordinate efforts throughout California to identify new herbicides, and to defend existing herbicides.
California vegetable chemical use - 1996. California Agricultural Statistics Service. Online: http://www.nass.usda.gov/ca/bul/chem/709chmn.htm, 1997
Agricultural chemical usage: vegetables 1996 summary. National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1997
1995 Annual pesticide use report. Department of Pesticide Regulation, Sacramento, CA. 1996
Goldman, L.R. Raw and processed food schedule for pesticide tolerance reassessment notice. Federal Register 67:42019-42030. 1997