Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
June 18, 2015
Numbers hot off the press from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency shows that the seed industry’s unprecedented action to protect bee health is having a very positive impact.
“CSTA members were among the first to take decisive action to protect the health of pollinators,” said Dave Baute, CSTA President. “We have been working collaboratively with our seed industry partners to reduce risk to bees and to ensure the overall health of our environment.”
CSTA members and the farmers we serve carry a heavy responsibility to produce high quality and affordable food for a growing world population while minimizing the impact on nature. As soon as bee deaths (incidents) after seeding became an issue in 2012-2013, the industry immediately took unprecedented action and joined together to reduce the impact. PMRA’s reporting of an 80% reduction in bee incidents since 2013 shows that these efforts are successful.
“I am proud of the tremendous accomplishments that we have made together to protect bee health, but there is still work to be done,” said Dave Baute. “We take our responsibilities to the world’s farmers and our natural environment very seriously. That is why we are working with the Bee Health Round Table to implement a national bee health action plan. CSTA also founded the Seed Applied Insecticide and Pollinator Health Value Chain Coalition to maintain the highest standards for use of treated seed. These are a great start; however, today’s numbers do not mean that we can stop working to protect bee populations.”
The Canadian Seed Trade Association is the national voice of 130 seed company members engaged in all aspects of seed research, production, and marketing and trade, both domestically and internationally. Visit us at www.cdnseed.org. Follow us on Twitter: @SeedInnovation
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