CHANGING VIEWS ON CHEMICAL CROP PROTECTION IN THE NETHERLANDS AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR BULB RESEARCH

• a decline in social acceptance of these chemicals, which resulted from an increased knowledge of and attention for adverse side-effects on environment and labour conditions.

• a decrease in the number of available and effective chemicals as the result of adaptation, the development of resistance against, for instance, fungicides, and a slow-down in the introduction of new chemicals.

To maintain the quality and the production of Dutch ornamental bulbs, more attention is and will be paid to replacing methods to prevent or control diseases, pests, and weeds.

In this paper, a survey is given of the present situation with regard to the various crop protectants used in ornamental bulb culture in the Netherlands, and to approaches in bulb research aimed to reduce the dependency, the presently applied volume, and the adverse side-effects of chemical crop protectants.