With the beginning of spring field work, the use of pesticides and agrochemicals in growing crops traditionally increases. The use of plant protection products is an important component of modern agricultural production, but it must be carried out exclusively in compliance with the requirements of current legislation and sanitary standards.
The Main Department of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the Kharkiv region recalls that the state policy of Ukraine in the field of activities related to pesticides is based on the principles of safety for human health and the environment during the production, testing, transportation and use of pesticides, mandatory compliance with state standards, sanitary norms and regulations, priority of preserving human life and health and environmental protection over the economic feasibility of using drugs.
Activities related to the use of pesticides and agrochemicals are regulated by a number of legislative acts, including:
- Law of Ukraine "On Pesticides and Agrochemicals",
- Law of Ukraine "On Plant Protection",
- State Sanitary Rules "Transportation, Storage and Use of Pesticides in the National Economy", approved by Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated 03.08.1998 No. 1 (DSP 8.8.1.2.001-98).
These documents define mandatory requirements aimed at protecting the life and health of the population, as well as minimizing negative impacts on the environment.
In accordance with current legislation, business entities and citizens who use pesticides and agrochemicals are required to comply with the following rules:
- the use of pesticides and agrochemicals that have not undergone special state registration on the territory of Ukraine is prohibited;
- During the work period, warning signs must be installed within a radius of 200 m from the boundaries of the areas being treated;
- when spraying with fans, the sanitary gap zone from settlements, livestock complexes, places of manual work on caring for crops, reservoirs and places of rest must be at least 500 m, when spraying with booms and sprinkling - 300 m;
- In advance, but not less than two days before the start of each chemical treatment, the farm administration must notify the population, owners of adjacent agricultural lands and facilities about the places, timing and methods of pesticide application (for example, by informing about this in the local press, on the radio, sending a message to local government bodies and organizing the placement of announcements in places of mass population presence);
- all work with pesticides should be carried out in the morning (before 10) and evening (18-22) hours with minimal air flows;
- It is forbidden to leave pesticides and mineral fertilizers in places of their application without protection;
- when applying pesticides by aircraft, it is necessary to strictly maintain sanitary protection zones from areas of aerial chemical treatments to other objects (settlements, livestock and poultry farms, water supply sources, etc.);
- three days before the start of aerial treatments, the customer must take precautionary measures in accordance with the requirements of DSP 382-96;
- It is prohibited to carry out aerial pesticide treatments (of all toxicity groups) of agricultural, forest and other lands located closer than 5 km from the permanent location of honey apiaries, 2 km from fishery reservoirs, open water sources, grazing areas for domestic animals, objects of the nature reserve fund (reserves, national parks, botanical and zoological reserves, etc.), 1 km from settlements, livestock and poultry farms, as well as crops of agricultural crops consumed without heat treatment (spring onions, celery, dill, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, etc.), gardens, vineyards and places of agricultural work.
It is important to remember that the most important task is to preserve the health of people and the environment.
Only strict compliance with the norms of current legislation will ensure safe and effective spring field work.