Celery 2016 - Red Tractor Assurance

Crop Module: Celery
Effective from 1st June 2016 – 31st May 2017 : version 3.2 (Crop Risk Category 1)
Welcome
T
his crop specific module for celery has been written
to complement and avoid duplicating the generic
principles of the Red Tractor Farm Assurance Fresh
Produce Scheme standards. It is advisable to read the
Red Tractor Farm Assurance Fresh Produce standards
before reading this crop specific module. This module is
designed to stimulate thought in the mind of the reader.
It contains crop specific guidance and standards, where
applicable, in addition to the requirements stated in the
generic Fresh Produce standards.
Within this module the important requirements outlined
in the crop specific standards section will be verified
during the Red Tractor Farm Assurance assessment and
compliance will form a part of the certification/approval
decision.
Disclaimer and trade mark acknowledgement
Although every effort has been made to ensure
accuracy, Assured Food Standards does not accept any
responsibility for errors and omissions. Trade names
are only used in this module where use of that specific
product is essential. All such products are annotated®
and all trademark rights are hereby acknowledged.
Notes: Pesticide Information
The Red Tractor Fresh Produce team has been working
with Fera to provide tailored access to the LIAISON
database for all Red Tractor Fresh Produce members.
This system allows individual growers access to all
information for plant protection products approved for
use under the Red Tractor Fresh Produce Scheme.
LIAISON can be accessed under the Produce tab via the
“Checkers and Services” page where you will also find
a user manual. Searches will be filtered specifically for
the crops for which you are registered. Once you have
logged onto the site and clicked on the LIAISON hyperlink
you will be directed to the LIAISON home screen.
Red Tractor Fresh Produce Guidance Notes on
Microbial Routes of Water Contamination
For further guidance on the microbial routes of water
contamination including its use, source, storage
application timing and method, quality, equipment
hygiene, and sampling please refer to the following
http://assurance.redtractor.org.uk/contentfiles/
Farmers-6541.pdf . From October 2016 this guidance
will be upgraded to a Fresh Produce Standards additional
bolt on.
General Introduction
Following a systematic approach will help growers identify
and manage the risks involved in crop production. This
module is based on a typical crop production process and
food safety, health & safety, environmental and quality
hazards are identified. Appropriate controls may then
be established to minimise risk. Food safety and health
& safety issues always take precedent over quality and
environmental controls. The layout of this module follows
the same structure as that used in the Red Tractor Farm
Assurance Fresh Produce Standards. The content of the
module is reviewed prior to the issue of updated editions.
The review process considers both new developments
and all relevant technology which has emerged since the
last review was completed and which have been found
to be both workable by the grower and beneficial to the
environment. The aim is to transfer such information and
technologies to growers.
Acknowledgements
Red Tractor Farm Assurance Fresh Produce gratefully
acknowledges the contribution of all consultees in the
preparation of this module, particularly David Norman of
Fresh Produce Consultancy Ltd.
You will need a username and password and these will
be sent once you have registered:
http://checkers.redtractor.org.uk/rtassurance/
services.eb .
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Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
Content
Contents
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AGAINST CURRENT STANDARDS 02
CROP SPECIFIC STANDARDS02
CHOICE OF VARIETY OR ROOTSTOCK AND PLANT HEALTH CERTIFICATION03
SITE AND SOIL MANAGEMENT 03
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CONTAMINATION CONTROL03
PEST DISEASE AND WEED CONTROL 04
NUTRITION 07
RESIDUES AND CONTAMINANTS 08
APPENDIX 1: TYPICAL NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS FOR CELERY 08
APPENDIX 2: GUIDELINES FOR MINIMISING PESTICIDE RESIDUES 09
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AGAINST CURRENT STANDARDS
None for this crop module
CROP SPECIFIC STANDARDS
STANDARDS
HOW YOU WILL BE MEASURED
RECORDS (to be kept
for 2 years)
n
Written
CQ.36.d
There must be written procedures within
glasshouses for the management and recording
of incidents involving heating oil spillages
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
procedure for
heating oil spillages
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
2
GUIDANCE
CHOICE OF VARIETY OR
ROOTSTOCK AND PLANT HEALTH
CERTIFICATION
Glasshouse management
Glasshouses must have appropriate “No smoking/No
food” signs and staff are provided with clearly defined
areas to eat and drink.
PLANT PROPAGATION
There must be written procedures within glasshouses
for the management and recording of incidents involving
heating oil spillages and glass breakages.
Producers should satisfy themselves that their transplants
are grown in hygienic conditions to ensure that they are
planted out in a pest and disease free condition.
Plant raisers should be registered with FERA Plant
Health and Seeds Inspectorate under the EU Marketing
Scheme. The major plant raisers have also produced,
and abide by, their own code of practice, the Plant
Propagation Material (PPM) standard.
Growers should be able to produce evidence that
any propagated material has been produced within a
verifiable production system.
Any chemical control of pests and diseases which can be
applied at the propagation stage should be used:
a. to target the problem directly, and
b. to minimise usage in the field at a later date.
Any treatments used must be agreed with the purchaser
and accurate records of application must be kept.
Growers must receive records of all pesticide applications
to the celery plants in the propagation stage.
Care should be taken to ensure any rogue or unused
celery plants are removed from the nursery to help stop
the carryover of pests and disease.
All celery seed should be free from septoria infection
and treated with an appropriate treatment for the
control of septoria prior to sowing.
SITE AND SOIL MANAGEMENT
THE BASIC APPROACH TO CROP PROTECTION
Introduction
The guiding principle is that pesticide inputs should
be minimised through prevention rather than cure. An
integrated approach should be adopted to achieve this
involving the following management steps.
Good management and planning
a. Careful site selection to avoid potential or previous
problems thereby enhancing plant health
b. Sensible crop rotations to avoid build-up of problems
c. Inclusion of resistant varieties (where available)
in cropping programmes whilst respecting the
need to meet the required quality parameters and
eating requirements
d. Establish the need to take corrective action by
regular monitoring referring to thresholds where
established. This should be carried out by trained
staff. The effect of prevailing weather conditions
should also be considered.
Cultural preventative techniques
A good rotation of crops is essential to help reduce the
build-up of pests and diseases and it demonstrates a
general concern for the maintenance of soil fertility.
a. Good crop and field hygiene, promoting crop health
by maximising nutrient availability through soil
analysis and accurate application to avoid excess
nutrient application. All crop residues from previous
celery crop should be thoroughly destroyed or
ploughed-in as soon as cropping is complete
A minimum of two years break between celery crops
should be adopted to help reduce the carry-over of
Septoria spores.
b. Utilise irrigation as a control measure wherever
appropriate and feasible, for example for control
of cutworms
Soil fumigation
If soil fumigation is thought necessary, it should now be
limited to the use of Basamid (dazomet) for operator
safety reasons.
c. Enable biological and natural methods of pest control
to flourish in the crop environment. Field margins
can provide a reservoir of insect predators, including
ladybird larvae, hoverflies, ground beetles etc. Care
CROP ROTATION
3
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AND CONTAMINATION CONTROL
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
should be taken to avoid spray drift from the crop
into these areas
d. The use of pest monitoring and forecasting
techniques should be adopted where possible as an
adjunct to crop inspection.
Corrective action
If good management and planning and cultural
preventative techniques fail to prevent or control pests,
the following approach should be adopted:
n
Where
corrective action is required, additional
biological and natural methods of pest and disease
control (if available) should be considered first.
n
If
chemical control is needed, the following points
should be considered, whilst ensuring effective control
is achieved:
n
Use
the least toxic and persistent product.
n
Use
the most selective product to reduce the impact
on naturally occurring beneficial organisms.
n
Use
minimum effective dose rate.
n
Use
appropriate application methods with effectively
maintained equipment, and spot-treating wherever
possible.
n
Exceeding
the recommended dose rate is wasteful,
gives no benefit in terms of control, and is also illegal
under Plant Protection Product Legislation.
Celery plants are at greater risk when they are small as
fewer larvae are needed to cause wilting and yellowing
of leaves. Larger plants can withstand bigger populations
of larvae and can grow away from damage without
visible symptoms.
Cultural control:
Regular monitoring of carrot fly activity is essential and
orange sticky traps are available for this purpose. They do
not indicate absolute levels of the pest so no thresholds
have been set. They do however need an experienced
entomologist to identify the catches.
Good crop rotation and, if possible, siting crops away
from previous celery or carrot crops, will help to delay the
build-up of large populations. Carrot flies do not fly large
distances and it takes 2-3 years for a damaging population
to establish. Carrot flies spend much time in vegetation
around the edges of fields so keeping hedgerows
well-trimmed reduces shelter areas available to them.
When no crop exists, the flies can complete their life
cycles on hedgerow umbellifers so regular crops of
carrots or celery in one area will usually lead to a
population reaching pest status.
Crops planted after June are at less risk from attack than
the early crops.
No data yet exists on resistant celery varieties.
Chemical control:
PEST, DISEASE AND WEED
CONTROL
If planting in a high risk area before July it is advisable to
apply foliar sprays containing lambda-cyhalothrin based
on monitoring adult fly activity using sticky traps.
PEST CONTROL
Once damage is identified it is too late to restore effective
control.
Carrot Fly (Psila rosae)
Carrot fly is a sporadic pest of celery but, in areas where
celery and carrots are grown intensively, a population of
flies will usually establish within 2-3 years and thereafter
infestation will become regular and maybe heavy. The fly
has two full generations a year; adults for the first generation
emerge from the soil at the end of April. Eggs are laid in the
soil around young plants during May and June from which
larvae hatch and bore into the roots and crown bases of the
plants. By mid-July few first generation adults remain.
A second generation of adults emerges during August
and egg laying extends through until September.
Damage from the second generation is not generally as
serious as that from the first because the period of adult
emergence is protracted, giving a lower population to
lay eggs at any one time. There may be a partial third
generation especially in East Anglia if it has been a
warm summer.
Protected crops: No treatment should be necessary for
this pest, as early crops are usually ready for harvest
before the first generation develops.
Carrot willow aphid (Cavariella aegopodii)
This pest overwinters as an egg on the bark of willow
trees and hatches out in a winged form to infest carrot,
celery and parsnip crops during May. Peak infestation
lasts until early July when another winged generation
emerges to re-infest willows and hedgerow umbellifers.
This aphid can build up quickly within the young leaves
in the heart of celery plants, it can also cause significant
damage in areas where celery and carrots are grown
intensively by transmitting carrot motley dwarf virus, it
can also transmit celery mosiac virus. Control measures
should be instigated immediately the pest is seen during
regular crop inspections.
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
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Cultural control:
As it is not possible to eliminate the aphids alternative
host plants, no practical cultural methods are suitable.
Hover fly and ladybird larvae can eat large numbers of
aphids and their presence is to be encouraged. Crop
covers of either fleece or mesh can provide a good level
of control.
Chemical control:
A number of materials are effective against aphids.
Products containing pirimicarb or pymetrozine are
specific to aphids and will not harm beneficial insects.
Protected crops: Frequent crop inspections are essential
as this species and other aphids are often common
in glasshouses and can infest a crop of celery or
celery transplants.
Peach - Potato aphid (Myzus persicae)
The winter host is peach Prunus persica, which is confined
to relatively small numbers in the UK. So although some
may over-winter as eggs on peach, overwintering is
usually in the mobile stages on herbaceous plants,
weeds and brassicas.
Winged forms start to migrate from winter hosts from late
April to June; however for celery it is often redistribution
from other major hosts such as potato, sugar beet,
lettuce or brassicas later in the season which can affect
the crop. It tends to become established on the older
outer leaves of the crop. This aphid transmits a number
of important viruses.
Cultural control:
As it is not possible to eliminate the aphids alternative
host plants, no practical cultural methods are suitable.
Hover fly and ladybird larvae can eat large numbers of
aphids and their presence is to be encouraged.
Chemical control:
A number of materials are effective against aphids.
Products containing pirimicarb or pymetrozine are
specific to aphids and will not harm beneficial insects. It
should be noted however, that peach potato aphid exhibit
resistance to pirimicarb and it is unlikely to be effective in
controlling them, pymetrozine is likely to more effective.
Protected crops: Frequent crop inspections are essential
as this species and other aphids are often common
in glasshouses and can infest a crop of celery or
celery transplants.
Caterpillars
Caterpillars, with the exception of the silver-y-moth
Autographa gamma rarely reach sufficient numbers
5
to assume pest status in celery. The silver-y-moth can
however cause considerable damage to celery, including
petiole holing.
Cultural control:
Monitoring of adult moth numbers of the silver-y-moth
using pheromone traps will help indicate when heavy
attacks are probable.
Chemical control:
Regular crop inspection will usually identify any
infestation by caterpillars. A pyrethroid spray product will
control most caterpillars.
Celery fly/celery leaf miner (Euleia heraclei)
The larvae of these flies feed between the upper and
lower leaf surfaces causing transparent mined areas
to develop. Damage can be most severe when the
plants are small and can occur any time between May
to October. As this is only a sporadic pest no control
measures should be taken unless severe damage is
seen during regular crop inspections.
Cultural control:
Little can be advised to minimise the chance of attack
from this pest.
Chemical control:
At first signs of mining of the leaves apply a pyrethroid
product, this should help control adults.
Protected crops: No treatment is usually needed for this
pest as early crops are usually ready for harvest before
the first generation develops.
Cutworms
These pests are the caterpillars of several species of noctuid
moths, the most common being the turnip moth (Agrotis
segetum). The young caterpillars hatch in June and July,
feed on the foliage for up to a week and then descend to the
soil to feed on the underground parts of the plant.
Cutworm attacks are most severe in hot dry summers.
Routine treatment is not required.
Cultural control:
Young cutworm caterpillars are easily drowned so heavy
rain effectively controls some attacks. In dry weather,
regular irrigation, essential for good celery crops, is
effective in reducing damage especially when used in
conjunction with trapping.
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
Avoid planting celery into land which has previously been
left very weedy as the moths are attracted to the dense
cover to lay eggs.
Chemical control:
There are no longer any products approved for cutworm
control in celery, pyrethroid sprays, as applied for
caterpillars will give incidental control of young foliar
feeding cutworm larvae.
Protected crops: The life cycle of cutworms should not
coincide with the protected crop.
Slugs
Due to mild winters, slugs have become an increasingly
important pest of celery as the start to infest the crop soon
after planting out, therefore early control is essential.
They thrive in soil which is wet from high rainfall
or irrigation.
Cultural control:
Large amounts of weed or debris from the previous crop
will encourage slugs to breed leading to large population
increases therefore do not allow decaying vegetation
to accumulate.
Slugs tend to live in hedgerows and migrate into crops
at night so it is advisable to leave a good strip of fallow
weed free land between the hedge and crop.
Trapping systems do exist but they are suitable for small
scale uses only. Biological control methods are being
investigated at present but are not as yet sufficiently
developed for commercial use.
Chemical control:
Slug pellets containing metaldehyde, or ferric phosphate
are effective. Most are bran-based, but in very wet
seasons pellets based on pasta wheat may last longer.
Entomopathogenic nematodes such as Phasmarhabditis
hermaphrodita can provide useful control, they need to
be applied when the foliage is wet and will stay wet for
long enough for the nematodes to travel into the soil
and disperse.
In the first instance, if monitoring is good enough, only
the fallow strip around the edge of the field should
need treatment. This is important in celery because
broadcasted pellets can lodge between the leaf stems of
the crop causing contamination. This is not acceptable
even if the harvest interval is adhered to. Equipment is
available to apply pellets as a band between rows which
should be considered after planting to reduce the risk of
pellets lodging in the foliage.
“Get Pelletwise” is the campaign of the metaldehyde
stewardship group which was formed in response to the
finding of metaldehyde in drinking water. Guidelines on
maximum and total application rates can be found at
www.getpelletwise.co.uk.
DISEASE CONTROL
Leaf spot /Late blight (Septoria apiicola)
This is the most serious disease of celery. The fungus
causes brown rusty spots on, first the leaves, and then,
spreading to leaf stems of the plants. The lesions develop
tiny black specks of pycnidia in the centres which can
be easily seen with a lens. Initially the disease is seedborne and all seed should have been treated by thiram
or hot water soaking. It may subsequently spread from
plant to plant in the field.
It also spreads from isolated plants by water or rain
splash, particularly in cool damp weather. It can also be
spread by infected soil being transferred on boots and
farm equipment.
Cultural control: A break of at least two years from
a previous crop is essential to ensure minimal carryover of spores to another crop. Regular crop walking
by someone trained in identification will enable early
diagnosis. Hand rogueing may help contain the disease
in its early stages if the weather is not too wet.
Chemical control: To minimize the likely onset of disease
in areas where it is known to be widespread, a protective
programme of sprays is required, currently applications
based on copper oxychloride, cyprodinil plus fludioxonil
azoxystrobin and difenconazole are approved.
Protected crops: Control of leaf spot can be a problem
in early crops due to the damp conditions, lack of air
movement within the glasshouse, low light level and
short day lengths.
Frequent crop inspections should be made and any
disease treated as early as possible to avoid rapid spread.
Protective sprays should be applied to transplants
destined for planting outside.
OTHER DISEASES
Sclerotinia can build up in soils where celery, lettuce
or carrots are cropped regularly. Fungicides applied for
the control of septoria such as azoxystrobin or cyprodinil
plus fludioxonil may give some suppression of this
disease. Consideration should be given that there may
be other susceptible crops in the rotation, as wide a gap
as possible between susceptible crops is desirable.
Botrytis rarely infects celery. Treatments for leaf spot
should also help control Botrytis.
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
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Seedling diseases, such as damping-off, can be a
problem and good nursery hygiene is paramount.
APPROVED USES NOT INCLUDED ON THE
PRODUCT LABEL
For carrot motley dwarf virus control measures see the
heading ‘carrot willow aphid’.
In many circumstances, particularly for minor crops,
product labels do not include all of the approved uses
and growers wishing to check the approval notice of a
particular product should note that this information is
available using the LIAISON® search accessible via their
Red Tractor Farm Assurance home page after logging in.
Protected crops: Botrytis is much more common in
protected crops than outdoors so any infestation should
be diagnosed and treated early.
Bacterial rots can be a problem especially after irrigation,
when the foliage is wet. It is important to ensure the
foliage is dried off quickly after irrigation by ventilating
if conditions permit. However, conditions in early spring
sometimes preclude these measures being taken.
Products containing copper oxychloride or cupric
ammonium carbonate, together with their protectant
qualities against Botrytis and leaf spot, are claimed to
have some activity on bacteria and may help to minimise
bacterial rotting.
NB: Copper products can leave a blue residue in the leaf
bases even after the harvest interval has been observed.
WEED CONTROL
Cultural
The usual good husbandry practices such as rotation and
stale seedbed should be observed to ensure that as few
weed seeds as possible remain in the soil at planting.
Use of contact herbicides prior to planting the crop will
minimise risk of residues and may reduce the need for
herbicide use later in the crop life. Mechanical methods
of weed control such as tractor-mounted or hand hoeing
should be used wherever practical as such methods
reduce chemical usage in the crop.
Herbicides
Pre-emergence or pre-planting herbicides containing
pendimethalin will help delay weed emergence.
Approved products to use post-planting in celery are
currently very restrictive although there is an EAMU for
linuron it has a PHI of 60 days. There are currently no
label approved post-planting herbicides for celery.
Other materials with SOLAs (now known as Extension of
Authorisation for minor use in the UK) are available but
these should be used with great care as they all have the
potential to cause crop damage.
7
A search on the ‘Off-Label Approvals’ page of LIAISON®
by crop or product name should yield a results page.
A click on the product name should link to a summary
of the approval information. Near the bottom of the
summary is the off-label number (e.g. 0246/09) and this
link will open up a pdf of the current EAMU document
giving details of the extension of use.
NUTRITION
A soil analysis for phosphorus, potassium, magnesium
and pH is essential prior to deciding on the composition
and quantity of base fertiliser to apply.
Use the minimum rates possible, based on ADAS soil
indices, to bring the soil to a level considered to be suitable
for a celery crop. Typical major nutrient requirements are
listed in the Appendix and the figures are expressed in
kilograms of plant nutrients per hectare.
Celery is not particularly responsive to nitrogen until the
crop has established, usually after about a month, so
minimal nitrogen levels are needed in the base dressing.
Top dressings can subsequently be used as needed,
reducing the risk of leaching.
Nitrogen fertilisation is now requiring greater
sophistication to address the concerns of run-off and
leaching into watercourses, and to minimise nitrate levels
in the harvested crop.
Techniques are available to establish nitrate levels in soil
and leaves but, as levels of available nitrate can change
rapidly due to environmental conditions, no absolute
thresholds for treatment have yet been established.
Regular use of such analysis on a field-by-field basis by
an experienced agronomist will however enable more
accurate decisions to be taken on rates of nitrogen to
be applied.
Timing of the application of organic FYM, where used,
should be carefully considered as nitrate release can
be unpredictable and may lead to excessive crop
uptake or leaching through the soil. FYM should not be
applied in the autumn. FYM should not be applied to
glasshouse soils.
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
RESIDUES AND CONTAMINANTS
Red Tractor Farm Assurance Fresh Produce is aware
that a key area in the production of fresh produce which
requires continued attention by growers and their advisers
is that of keeping pesticide residues to a minimum. This
issue is not just one of meeting the MRL trading standard
but ensuring that any individual or multi residues are kept
as low as possible below this level.
The key targets are:
n
Optimising late applications of fungicides
insecticides to the edible part of the crop
n
Optimising
and
the use of post-harvest treatments
n
Ensuring
that at the least, minimum harvest intervals
are followed and where possible maximised
n
Ensuring
that application equipment is applying
products correctly
See Appendix for the pesticide targets and guidelines
on celery.
APPENDIX 1: TYPICAL NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS FOR CELERY –
REF RB209 8TH EDITION
Nutrient (kg/ha)
Nitrogen (N)– Seedbed
Soil SNS, P, K, Mg Index
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
75
75
75
75
0a
0a
0a
See note b below
Nitrogen (N)– Top-dressing
Phosphate (P205)
250
200
150
100
50
0
0
Potash (K20)
450
400
350 (2-) 300 (2+)
210
50
0
0
Magnesium (Mg0)
150
100
0
0
0
0
0
Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
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APPENDIX 2: GUIDELINES FOR MINIMISING PESTICIDE RESIDUES
IN CELERY
These guidelines have been produced after consultation between crop stakeholders and the RT Fresh Produce crop
author. They will be developed over the coming seasons as knowledge on minimising residues develops. Growers
should consult with their crop protection adviser to ensure other best practices are not compromised before considering
these guidelines. The table below lists the active ingredients that may give rise to crop residues and details potential
alternative strategies.
Active
Ingredient
Target: pest,
weed, disease
Current
position
Suggested guidelines for both active ingredients:
azoxystrobin
difenconazole
Leaf spot
14 day PHI
(Septoria apiicola)
14 day PHI
1.Two year break between celery crops. Carry-over of disease can be
considerable if cropped with celery annually
cyprodinil +
fludioxonil
14 day PHI
2.Ensure all seed purchased is treated with an approved fungicide
3.Check propagators annually for cultural techniques. Seed must be
treated and propagation facilities clean
4.Alternate Amistar (azoxystrobin) with Plover (difenconazole) and
Switch (cyprodinil+fludioxonil) in any protectant fungicide programme
5.Increase difenconazole PHI by up to a further 7 days to allow for
continued degradation of active ingredients
See guidelines below
Introduction:
UK grown celery is supplied to the markets from June to November from crops transplanted between March and July.
Outside these times crop is generally imported from Southern Europe, principally Spain.
Routine pesticide residue testing of these crops has shown regular incidences difenconazole residues, albeit well
below its MRL of 5.0mg/kg. Occasional low level occurrence of azoxystrobin have also been detected, but again well
below the mrl of 5.0mg/kg
Difenconazole is used to control leaf spot (Septoria apiicola). It has a PHI of 14 days and only one application
is permitted.
The disease is believed to be initially seed borne with spread in the glasshouse or field by water splash and on debris
from previous crops if rotation is not practiced correctly.
Possible actions to reduce residues:
Pesticide residues of difenconazole occasionally occur in crops as it is relatively persistent.
In order to minimise the levels of this compound in celery guidelines are recommended, in the table above, if it is
considered possible to do so without compromising crop quality:
Notes:
Items 1-3 listed in the table above will all help to ensure that the crop is exposed to the minimum level of disease.
Regular inspections of the crop will indicate the level of control needed.
Items 4-5 listed in the table above should effectively lower levels of difenconazole and azoxystrobin in the crop. They
should only be undertaken by growers using the services of an agronomist experienced in the crop.
N.B. If fungicide applications are deemed necessary, it is not advisable to reduce application rates to lower potential
residue levels. This is because if the disease is exposed to lower levels of the active ingredients then the potential
survival of a larger number of disease organisms could lead to greater mutation levels leading to the possible build-up
of resistance to the fungicides.
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Red Tractor Assurance for Farms – Crop-specific Module: Celery
© AFS 2016: version 3.2
Certification Bodies
Your routine point of contact with the Scheme is through your Certification Body.
Certification Bodies are licensed by Red Tractor to manage membership applications and to carry out assessment
and certification against the Standards. The table below shows which Certification Bodies apply to each enterprise.
Certification Body
NSF
SAI Global
Acoura
Beef and
Lamb
Dairy
Combinable
Crops and
Sugar Beet
Fresh
Produce
Pigs
Poultry
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
NIFCC
(Northern Ireland)
4
QWFC (Wales)
4
4
NSF Certification
Hanborough Business Park, Long Hanborough, Oxford OX29 8SJ
Tel: 01993 885739 Email: agriculture@nsf.org Web: www.nsf-foodeurope.com
SAI Global Assurance Services Ltd
PO Box 6236, Milton Keynes MK1 9ES
Tel: 01908 249973 Email: agrifood@saiglobal.com Web: www.saiglobal.com/assurance
Acoura
6 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, Scotland EH12 9DQ
Tel: 0131 335 6600 Email: info@acoura.com Web: www.acoura.com
NIFCC [Northern Ireland]
Lissue House, 31 Ballinderry Rd, Lisburn, Northern Ireland BT28 2SL
Tel: 028 9263 3017 Email: info@nifcc.co.uk Web: www.nifcc.co.uk
QWFC
QWFC [Wales]
PO Box 8, Gorseland, North Road, Aberystwyth SY23 2WB
Tel: 01970 636688 Email: info@wlbp.co.uk Web: www.wlbp.co.uk
T: 01932 589 800
E: produce@redtractor.org.uk
www.redtractorassurance.org.uk
Fresh Produce
Standards