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question



dear sanetters,
the items below came across agnet . . . they got me wondering how many 
agencies have the authority/power to order a spraying (or other phytosanitary 
measure); does an agency with that authority/power have to make any showing 
that no alternatives exist and/or that the proposed action is optimal by some 
criteria (e.g., sustainability) . . . that in turn got me wondering what would 
happen if a grower practicing some form of alternative agriculture refused, 
for financial or human health reasons . . . for example, if the agency did the 
spraying on its own, could an organic farmer sue for loss of  certification
specifically on these two cases, i'd be interested in hearing from people in 
the two affected areas if there are any alternatives, and/or if research is 
being done on alternatives . . . i'd also be interested in knowing more about 
the ecology of the two pests, and about what growers in the affected areas 
think about the situation
cheers,
craig


| SWEET POTATO WEEVIL
| June 20/96
| BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Department of Agriculture is instituting a 
mandatory spraying program for the sweet potato weevil after it was discovered 
for the first time in the  northeastern part of the state last year. In 
northeastern Louisiana, the sweet potato crop in 1995 was valued at $23 
million and, with more value added in processing and sales, the Agriculture 
Department estimates its total value at about $50 million.
| 
| BARLEY RUST
| June 20/96
| LEWISTON, Idaho -- Rust race 24, a barley disease, was found this week in 
Nez Perce County, and farmers were urged to begin spraying fungicide 
immediately. The disease is known to spread in cool, damp weather and can 
result in crop losses as high as 40 per cent after the first year.
| 
| AGNET IS SPONSORED BY THE ONTARIO MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL 
AFFAIRS PLANTS PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH 
| AGnet June 20/96
| Douglas A Powell <dpowell@uoguelph.ca>
| Thursday, June 20, 1996 11:35 AM


craig k harris
dept of sociology    michigan state university    east lansing  michigan  
48824-1111
tel:  517-355-5048    fax:  517-432-2856