Worried wheat growers who think they will lose their best defence
against wire worms this spring can rest easy.
Lindane, which is now banned from canola production, can still be used
on wheat.
“Lindane is registered for use on wheat for wire worm in Canada and the
U.S.,” said Marc Richard of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.
Lindane has been deregistered as a canola treatment in Canada, not
because of proven environmental problems, but because of worries about
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Lindane was never registered for use on canola in the United States,
which has a much smaller canola crop for which chemical manufacturers
often don’t bother to register products.
But because it was an unregistered treatment in the U.S., Canadian
canola shipments into the U.S. were threatened because products
containing unregistered chemicals can be stopped at the border.
The Canadian canola industry asked the PMRA to stop allowing lindane to
be used on canola.
The situation is different for wheat. Lindane is registered in both the
U.S. and Canada for treatment against wire worms in that crop.
That could change. The PMRA is doing a safety review of lindane, but
Richard said any changes to its use will not be made until after the
coming growing season.
“For this year there’s definitely no problem.”
