Natural selection

摘要

When a special Government scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage more companies to register biopesticides, it prompted optimistic talk of the UK braced to lead Europe in this area of crop protection. The scheme cut approval costs and even appointed a "biopesticide champion" to help guide applicants through the process: Five years down the line, however, progress seems painfully slow. According to a recent report by the Pesticides Forum, the number of biopesticide products gaining registration inany one year in the UK — which reached a low in 2003 — has only gradually risen since the new scheme began.