Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Policy Division
Food Safety and Environmental Policy Branch
1 Stone Road West, Floor 2
Guelph Ontario N1G 4Y2
Re: Pollinator Health – A Proposal for Enhancing Pollinator Health and Reducing the Use of Neonicotinoid Pesticides in Ontario.EBR Registry Number: 012-3068
The National Farmers Union in Ontario (NFU-O) welcomes the opportunity to submit comments through the Environmental Registry to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the discussion paper Pollinator Health – A Proposal for Enhancing Pollinator Health and Reducing the Use of Neonicotinoid Pesticides in Ontario. Please see the attached document for our detailed comments.
As farmers in Ontario, the members of the NFU-O are deeply committed to working with nature to produce healthy food and to protect and enhance biodiversity within and around our farms. We advocate for agricultural practices that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and built on the principles of food sovereignty. By working with and building our own knowledge and skills of agro-ecology we strive to protect the many organisms, including bees and wild pollinators, which provide economic benefits to our farms and contribute to a more beautiful countryside. Based on our commitments above, the NFU-O supports the approach taken by the Government of Ontario in its Pollinator Health proposal. We support the move to restrict the use of neonicotinoid treated corn and soybean seed to those acres which can demonstrate the need for treated seed and the commitment to increase the practice of Integrated Pest Management.
Source: NFU