European Precision Application Task Force
(EUPAF)
The European Precision Application Task Force (EUPAF) has officially kicked off in June 2023. The task force was created as a follow up action of the Workshop on Digital Agriculture and Precision Farming that took place in February 2023, with the support of the Fresenius Academy.
The purpose is to offer a scientific platform to gather expertise in precision applications and risk mitigation measures, and encourage a dialog between experts in the development of precision application equipment, farmers, regulatory scientists and risk assessors from both public and private organisations and research organisations. Its objectives are to provide the necessary information to facilitate the recognition of precision applications of crop protection solutions in the future.
Structure
Quelle: EUPAF
Task groups
Quelle: EUPAF
Task 1: Identify use categories describing precision uses of PPP, on the basis of an inventory of equipment and corresponding aims of treatment (volume and drift).
Specific tasks:
- List an inventory of current equipment, spraying and/or application practice and technique in use for 2D and 3D crops.
- Capture, for each inventory item, what the equipment, practice or technique can contribute to in terms of application reduction (quantity or volume) and where possible also in terms of applicable risk reduction (e.g. drift reduction).
Define classes or categories of use reduction and risk reduction, in which each of the equipment, application practice or technique enters. These categories or classes would be used further on in regulatory dossiers (e.g. GAP tables and risk assessments).
- The resulting inventory would also have the role of a baseline glossary to ensure consistency of terminology usage and facilitate onboarding of additional stakeholders. This glossary can refer to existing work developed by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
- Identify, within this inventory, the use categories that represent a priority in terms of inclusion in the regulatory system. This prioritization exercise should integrate aspects relative to the availability of application material/practice and technique involved, the level of availability, awareness and knowledge by users in the member states, and documented performances that indicate an expected spread of this usage category among users.
The group of experts will determine the format that is most appropriate for this inventory, keeping in mind that this document will be the foundational document for the work of the other working groups, but also that it will be a living document, to reflect technical progress in the area of precision application and risk mitigation measures.
Task 2: Develop appropriate language to best describe the use category, to be used in a GAP table.
Specific tasks:
- Propose a standardized description of the use categories identified in the inventory, with, if relevant and needed, a focus on those categories identified as a priority in task 1.
The description should include:
- The aim of the treatment, a precise description of the area treated and a proposal on how to best express this in the GAP table.
- The type of equipment and considerations that are critical in terms of performance and efficacy of the treatment.
- Additional agronomic advice e.g. in terms of resistance management and the categories of use reduction/risk reduction.
- The description can be enhanced with the support of visual elements, for illustrative (and not prescriptive) purposes.
- Propose for each use category a way to include the availability and level of uptake in member states in the GAP table, as documented in the inventory (task 1).
- In addition, the GAP table should reflect the benefits of equipment relating to farm management systems and integrated tools (weather, maps, landscape, biodiversity data) as identified in task 1.
The group of experts will propose new fields that may be needed in a GAP table for it to be fit for the new use categories as well as the wording to best describe these new categories in a standardized way, having in mind that the GAP table is the reference document to the risk assessment for each use.
Quelle: EUPAF
Task 3: Identify potential changes to Risk Assessment (RA) and the potential for a Risk Mitigation Measure (RMM) for each use case.
Specific tasks:
- For each use category, evaluate to what extent the use will lead to significant changes in a particular RA area, through a significant modification of the exposure of plant protection products (e.g. for operators, by-standers, aquatic organisms, non-target plants and amongst other risk assessments).
- Where available, propose a conversion factor for use reduction to risk reduction that can be further considered in RA scenarios.
- Indicate which combination of application equipment, application technique and practice can contribute to a cumulated use reduction and/or risk reduction, for further use in RA scenarios.
Task 4: Develop adapted risk assessments for each use case.
Specific tasks:
- Propose - for RA areas that can be significantly modified by a change in application equipment, application technique or practice - adapted exposure assessment scenarios to be used in the risk assessment.
- Provide advice on the type of data that is needed in order to document and quantify the changes in exposure, through e.g. recommendations on the generation of that data and guidance/protocols.
- Provide advice on how to use reduction factors and/or risk reduction factors (including conversion from use to risk reduction where relevant) that can be further considered in RA scenarios.
- Indicate how a bundle of application equipment, application technique and practice can contribute to a cumulated use reduction and/or risk reduction, for further use in RA.
Task 5: Prepare material to be entered in the Compendium on Risk Mitigation Measures and Precision Applications of the European Commission.
The group of experts should:
- On the basis of the input from the other expert groups involved in this task force, identify the application equipment, application technique, practice and use category that should be included in the Compendium on Risk Mitigation Measures and Precision applications of the European Commission.
The information should contain a description of the use category, application equipment, technique or practices to be included in the compendium as well as the use reduction/risk reduction factors associated with the entry.
Task 6: Develop equivalence tables of tool performances regarding risk reduction and use reduction.
The expert group should:
Identify the use category, application equipment, technique or risk mitigation measure (RMM) included in the compendium or to be included in the compendium, where standardization for the categorization of RMMs or application equipment would be beneficial.
- For instance, the further standardization for the categorization of nozzles might be beneficial through an equivalence table of the categories in use in different member states/countries, or mandate to CEN (Comite Europeen de Normalisation) and/or ISO (International Organization for Standardization) can be done to further standardized nozzle types in Europe.
- Provide advice on who will drive such a process of standardization and how to do it.
The machinery industry colleagues expressed their support in discussing this directly with the European Commission and interested authorities, in order to ensure that existing recognition systems in place at national level have an equivalence into the European system.
Milestones and further Activities (updated June 2024)
- Document containing input from all groups, including examples of precision application categories (Q3 2024)
- GAP handbook including glossary (Q4 2024)
- First recommendations on options for the RA/RM (Q4 2024)
- First list of needs (data) (Q4 2024)
- Link to AGROS II project (WUR) for data on case studies (2024-2026)
- New task subgroup 1.2 on application to 3D-crops (June 2024)
- New task subgroup on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) applications (June 2024)
- Close link to OECD Drone Subgroup (ODSG) of the Working Party on Pesticides (WPP)
Contacts
| Steering Committee | Jonas Schartner and Anne Alix jonas.schartner@bvl.bund.de; anne.alix@corteva.com |
| Task Group 1 | Tom Bals balsthomas@outlook.com |
| Task Group 2 | Alexander Pfaff and Joachim Dressel Alexander.Pfaff@bvl.bund.de; joachim.dressel@syngenta.com |
| Task Group 3+4 (merged) | Rena Isemer rena.isemer@bayer.com |
| Task Group 5 | to be determined |