Fungicide found in pregnant women near banana plantations

Chad Hunte posted on September 25, 2014 14:15

A new study has found alarmingly high levels of pesticides in the urine of pregnant Costa Rican women working in and living near the banana industry in Matina, Limón. The chemical ethylene thiourea (ETU) found in the fungicide mancozeb, which is sprayed over banana plantations here, can be detrimental to fetal brain development, according to the report released Monday in Environmental Health Perspectives. Read more.

As fungus kills bats, MN timber industry winces: Minneapolis Star and Tribune| 8-19-14
A cave fungus that’s killing millions of bats across the country is threatening to become a big problem for Minnesota’s timber industry.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide next spring whether to add the northern long-eared bat, which is being wiped out in places by the disease called white nose syndrome, to the endangered species list.

Such a decision would trigger a blanket prohibition against killing the bats, even accidentally. That would halt logging in much of the country during warm months, when the little animals roost in the forest and raise their vulnerable young in trees. Read more.
Battling the coffee rust: Photos of farmers fighting an epidemic: Modern Farmer | 8-26-14
A fungus known as coffee rust is killing much of Central America’s high quality, Arabica coffee. But while we in the U.S. worry about our caffeine fix, coffee growers worry about their livelihoods. How will these vulnerable communities fight a devastating fungal epidemic with few resources and little assistance? As a hopeless caffeine addict interested in food, agriculture, and Latin America, I wanted to see the situation firsthand. I travelled to Nicaragua twice between July 2013 and January 2014 to see how Mefalia Villarreyna, Marvin Pérez and their family, who grow coffee in the mountains of northern Nicaragua, are coping. Read more.
Climate change and fungicide tolerance: Teatro Naturale | 9-24-14
Dry soil and at enhanced temperatures: both conditions may occur more often in the future due to climate change. Singularly and combined these factors lower the toxicity threshold of fungicides for springtails

Soil organisms react more sensitive to marketable pesticides when exposed in dry soil and at enhanced temperatures. Both conditions may occur more often in the future due to climate change. Singularly and combined these factors lower the toxicity threshold of fungicides for springtails. The study by scientists from the LOEWE Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), the Goethe University and the ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH was published in the September issue of the journal "Applied Soil Ecology".

Springtails are tiny, about 10 mm large creatures, which participate in essential soil functions. Its numerous species, include Folsomia candida and Sinella curviseta, and are widely distributed. They form part of a huge crowd of soil organisms, which decompose organic material and build up humus. If springtails are affected, therefore soil fertility will be affected too. Read more.

High levels of DON in winter wheat crop: Farm and Ranch Guide | 9-18-14
High levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) have been reported with this year's winter wheat and barley harvests.

DON, also referred to as vomitoxin, is a mycotoxin that can be produced by Fusarium graminearum and is found in kernels and on other parts of the wheat spike...

According to Friskop, with producers trying to take their winter wheat to the elevators following harvest, the high DON levels are causing some of the elevators to not even accept any more deliveries. Read more.
Researchers find Septoria resistance to some fungicides: Capital Press | 9-18-14
SALEM — A survey of Willamette Valley wheat fields this past summer found that the fungal disease Septoria has a high rate of resistance to the widely used azoxystrobin fungicides and that tolerance to propiconazole fungicides is on the rise. Read more.

Web seminar focuses on potato fungicide resistance: The Grower | 9-18-14
Although herbicide-resistant weeds have captured headlines in many trade publications the past few years, another type of resistance is becoming increasingly important—fungicide resistance. In the latest Focus on Potato, Barry Jacobsen, a plant pathology professor at Montana State University, tackles the subject with the potato industry in mind, according to a news release. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1366122012810-6')});; In the 38-minute Web presentation, Jacobsen will cover potato fungicide modes of action, the risks of developing fungicide resistance and practices to minimize the chance of resistance from developing. Read more.

Soybean webcast addresses fungicide resistance: Ag Professional | 9-20-14
As if soybean growers didn’t have enough to worry about with weed resistance, key diseases such as frogeye leaf spot and rhizoctonia root/stem rot are now showing resistance to certain classes of fungicides.

Pathogen resistance to fungicides is becoming an increasingly challenging problem in the management of crop diseases and is threatening the performance of some otherwise potent and useful commercial fungicides. Read more.

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Fungicide found in pregnant women near banana plantations

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