Formulations of Plant Oils Used in Crop Protection in Selected EU Member States

An overview of lists of plant protection products used in organic farming in the European Union was carried out in 2017. For the analysis, the lists of products approved for organic farming protection from 8 European Union Member States were used: Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg and Slovakia. It was found that in all the analysed Member States 10 different plant oils were recommended for use in organic farming. Nine of 10 were placed on the market as the only active substance of the plant protection products, in addition to 4 cases where plant oils were registered in the mixtures. There were very significant differences among the Member States as to availability of plant oils, as 6 out of 10 are registered in 1 country only. The plant oils registered in more than one Member State were rapeseed oil, mint oil, orange oil and fennel oil. Plant oils were registered for use in 7 different formulations. Emulsifiable concentrate was definitely the most popular among the formulations. INTRODUCTION Integrated pest management (IPM) – obligatory in all European Union member states from the beginning of 2014 emphasises the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems. Following implementation of integrated pest management, alternative approaches or techniques, such as non-chemical alternatives to pesticides, should be promoted in agriculture. Therefore the study results regarding microbial products used in agriculture rise particular interest (Matyjaszczyk 2015a, Lamichhane et al. 2017). Biostimulants (Kocira et al. 2015, Kocira et al. 2017, Miziniak and Matysiak 2016) and preventive measures of pest control are also used in integrated pest management (Bocianowski et al. 2016, Walczak, Tratwal and Bocianowski 2015, Matyjaszczyk 2011, Matyjaszczyk 2015b, Jankowski et al. 2016). Plant oils can be an interesting alternative to chemical active substances, as some of them have proven activity against crop pests (Bakkali et al. 2008; Isman 2000; Batish et al. 2008; Souguir at el. 2013). Plant protection products containing plant oils as an active substance are already placed on the market of European Union member states and some of them are qualified for use in organic agriculture. The aim of the study was to compare the availability and the formulations of products containing plant oils recommended for use in agriculture in selected Member States of the European Union. MATERIAL AND METHODS An overview of lists of products to protect organic farming in the European Union was carried out in 2017. For the analysis, the plant protection products containing plant oils approved for use in organic farming were considered. The data came from 8 European Union Member States: Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg and Slovakia. Material for the study came from the official websites dedicated to organic farming within the Member States.