With changes to pesticide approvals just round the corner, now is the time to start planning to ensure that products whose approvals are set to expire on 31 December 2013 are used before the expiry date. Although the Chemicals Regulation Directorate (CRD) has extended the deadline on some actives, to allow more time for some to gain listing on Annex 1, if you have products in store when approvals do lapse then you will have to pay to dispose of them.

This year’s UK Pesticide Guide will therefore help you with some prudent planning – it is a must for any advisor, contractor, farmer, grower, groundsman, gardener, local authority or spray operator. The 2011 data are also available via the PlantProtection website – www.plantprotection.co.uk.

“This year’s database contains a significant number of new mixtures, and two significant new actives, bixafen and isopyrazam – both cereal fungicides heralding a new class of actives,” says Mr Martin Lainsbury, editor of The UK Pesticide Guide. “The book is an annual publication and provides a snapshot of what is approved at the time of publication, therefore it has SOLAs approved up until September 2010 whilst the online resource has all the SOLAs for active products approved in 2010.”

The online subscription version – PlantProtection – is becoming an increasingly popular way of accessing this information. It offers much more data than could be squeezed into a book and is regularly updated throughout the year.

For the first time, in 2011, subscription to plantprotection.co.uk also includes access to IdentiPest – a pictorial diagnostic tool identifying pests, weeds and diseases in 34 UK field crops – which, as part of BCPC’s programme of continuous improvement helps ensure that the right products are selected for the right targets. PlantProtection also provides users with the latest product news and developments, and its powerful search engine allows customisable searches and links to SOLA notices and the CRD online database for MRLs.

BASIS members can also earn CPD points when purchasing the book (2 CPD points) and subscribing to the online resource (3 CPD points).

BCPC and CABI are the joint publishers of The UK Pesticide Guide 2011 which costs £44.50. Copies are now available from: BCPC Publications Sales, 7 Omni Business Centre, Omega Park, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 2QD UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1420 593 200 Email: publications@bcpc.org. Credit cards are accepted. Secure orders can also be placed online from the BCPC website on www.bcpc.org/bookshop.

For further information and to take out an annual subscription of the online version, which is priced £60 + VAT, log onto: www.plantprotection.co.uk.