Canadian farmers, including farmers from Manitoba, believe that pesticide use will lead to poor harvests. However, the use of pesticides can also lead to the extinction of bees.
As it became known, the most popular methods of dealing with harmful pests can lead to the fact that bees and other important insects will also be affected by these poisons.
In the summer of 2018, Health Canada offered to stop using chemical pesticides for the next 3-5 years. In the fall, farmers expressed their perplexity, because the use of neonicotinoids has little effect on the environment and it is a very effective weapon against pests.
"To be blunt, we're puzzled why they would want to remove these products from our toolkit," said Breitkreuz, who farms for many years.
At the moment, farmers are planning to conduct their own research in order to prove that neonicotinoids use is more beneficial than harmful.
Health Canada still fully supports the studies that were carried out by the EU: in 2018, the EU has decided to abandon neonicotinoids in open areas (it can be used in closed greenhouses).
Moreover, about 200 Canadian scientists have confirmed that neonicotinoids can affect the ability of the bees to reproduce.
"From my perspective, we've done really solid research on this," one of the scientists said. "We clearly demonstrated that in Canada, exposure to these chemicals has negative consequences on bee health."
The connection between neonicotinoids and the disease of birds has also been identified.
Health Canada hopes to find a middle ground in this issue to protect bees and birds, and at the same time to get rid of crop pests.
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