You might think that we will have
a better idea of how neonic application affects yields after the two
year ban, but this is unlikely. Some
of this year’s crops were treated
with neonics before the ban came
into action.
This means neonics will persist in the environment
until the crops are harvested. This
only leaves one year during which
the pesticide restrictions will be
fully observed (before they are
reviewed in 2015), which may not
be long enough to properly gauge
the effect of the ban on crop yields
and pollinator health.
It is also important to note that,
even with the neonic ban, crops
are still being sprayed with other
pesticides. So they are not open to
attack by pests in the absence of
neonics. Added to this, the evidence
for the negative effect of neonics
on pollinator health seems to be
far stronger than the evidence for
the positive effect of the same pesticide on crop yields. This can be
seen in the numerous publicati