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AERIAL SPRAYING:. THE RIGHT THING TO DO. Why aerial spraying?. 1. Aerial spraying is the most cost-effective method of application of fungicides and the speediest vs the airborne Black Sigatoka. 2. This application method is approved by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA).
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AERIAL SPRAYING: THE RIGHT THING TO DO
1. Aerial spraying is the most cost-effective method of application of fungicides and the speediest vs the airborne Black Sigatoka.
2. This application method is approved by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA).
3. The use of technologically advanced tools has increased accuracy and margin of safety.
What pesticides are being used? Unlike in the United States, only fungicides against Black Sigatoka are aerially sprayed in the Philippines.
Without the fungicides to combat Black Sigatoka there could have been no export banana industry.
Fungicides used in aerial spraying • A low order of acute mammalian toxicity • Even less hazardous than some medicinal products • Not intended to be taken orally or ingested
The table below shows the comparative toxicity levels of certain compounds and commonly used fungicides. The toxicity levels are measured in LD50. The lower the LD50, the more toxic the compound is.
Banana industry— 40 years of sustained growth • 3,000 small growers and thousands of employees and workers and sustaining support industries in Mindanao. • Compliant to GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE guidelines, both self-imposed and mandated by the importing countries. • The most GAP compliant agricultural industry in the country.
DOES THE PRESENCE OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES AUTOMATICALLY MEAN HARM TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT?
No. There are established “safe levels” or “allowable levels” which have been based on detailed toxicological, environmental and residue in food studies.
Through more than 30 years of aerial spraying of fungicides, there have been no proven cases of death and debilitating diseases attributable to drift on the communities surrounding the plantations. We question the design and the results of the DOH-commissioned study, which are so inconclusive.
We maintain that following Good Agricultural Practice, the risks posed by exposure to drift from the aerial spraying of fungicides is not a real cause for health and environmental concern.
What is CropLife’s role in the banana industry? As an association of research-based companies engaged in the plant science industry, Croplife is privileged to have a role in the country’s agricultural development effort. We have been helping promote science-based and sustainable agriculture. Our research-based member companies are in the forefront of technical innovations in the world-wide plant science industry; focused on researching and developing new, low-toxicity, target-specific, and environment-friendly molecules; and adhering to a life-cycle approach to product stewardship. With this comes our commitment for corporate social responsibility. We appreciate the government’s regulatory policy on pesticides, and recognize the need for such a stringent technical regulatory regime, much like the pharmaceutical industry worldwide.
But it is time to put a stop to recycled claims of “Poisoned Lives.” We are as concerned as everybody else about the health of our people, our communities and the environment. WE HAVE EVIDENCE TO SHOW THAT THE HEALTH CASES which have been attributed to aerial spraying among the residents of CAMOCAAN, HAGONOY, DAVAO DEL SUR ARE ANECDOTAL AND FABRICATED. No less than the local government unit and the FPA validated that these alleged cases of victims of pesticide poisoning were all lies. These alleged cases were used as a basis for DOH to commission the study: Health and Environment Assessment of Sitio Camocaan. Couldn’t DOH have at least called for investigation of the alleged health cases before going into said study?
Marlon Dulla is one of twin boys reported to have died at birth due to aerial spraying in a study by a Dr. R. Quijano dated 2002/2003 that sparked this aerial spray ban movement. Marlon, now 25, is alive and well, as is his twin brother who is now a father himself. Marlon tends pigs, chickens and goats in Camocaan that he says are fat and healthy, the goats and pigs even enjoying the bananas from the plantation. He has made a healthy living out of that to add to his income and benefits from the plantation as a farm worker.
RamilMurillo maintains that he was brought by aerial spray ban advocates to New Zealand where he was supposedly to have his foot looked at. His foot was injured in a basketball game. Not able to speak English, he feels that his foot malady was used as a showcase against aerial spraying of fungicide. It was never attended to, just shown off. He does not believe that aerial spraying has had anything to do with his foot.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS • An independent, unbiased party should investigate the truth about the alleged health cases. If needed, a proper epidemiological study should be conducted. • Stop any legislative ban on aerial spraying since it will ultimately have a negative impact on the economy of Mindanao, particularly in the banana growing provinces. There are many ways of managing the use of pesticides without banning the application method. Banning would completely remove an option that is necessary to adopt, particularly in the case of the banana industry. • There is a need for a rational, honest dialogue and proper consultations, based on good science, among all stakeholders to thresh out the real issues and how these could be addressed. It is suggested that the Department of Agriculture should take a more active role in promoting and initiating such dialogues/consultations. • A code of ethical practice and behavior for NGOS is highly recommended.
