Solid research produces safe results

The Food Crops program of IR-4 is specifically designed to do the necessary research required by EPA to secure pesticide registrations for food-use specialty crops. Trials for each prioritized project are placed strategically throughout the United States and other territories to generate enough data for an EPA submission. Additionally, EPA establishes rigorous testing, safety, and tolerance standards that must be followed when conducting pesticide residue research on any crops. IR-4 adheres to these guidelines when conducting field trials to ensure quality submissions. Therefore, the resulting registered use from IR-4 research will not compromise the safety and integrity of specialty crops produced for human and animal consumption. Throughout IR-4’s history, over 20,000 uses have been registered through the Food Crop program. These registrations provide farmers a way to produce their specialty crops with reduced pest pressures and provide consumers with safe, nutritious food supply.

From project requestion to successful registration

The timeframe for a Food Crop project may vary depending on the crop, cropping cycle, required number of field trials, required data, and many other factors. In every case, the process begins with a project request from and interested stakeholder. A project can be submitted at any timepoint throughout the year. Internally, IR-4 generally has a cutoff around mid-August for projects to be considered for priority for the following year.

Priorities are set annually at the Food Use Workshop. All project submissions up to the deadline will go through a vetting process in collaboration with EPA and industry partners to identify any potential issues. All projects will then be discussed with input from stakeholders and regional IR-4 participants and ranked based on potential and need. Although the number may vary, funding is generally only adequate to prioritize around 40 – 50 projects per year out of hundreds of submissions. Once a project has been prioritized, trials will be designed and placed in the required regions.

Frozen samples are pulverized to separate out specific chemical compounds. Any potential residues are then targeted and extracted using technical processes. Afterward, these extracts are quantified to determine the overall presence the pesticide residue on the crop. These values can shed light on the potential contamination risk or lack thereof to human and animal consumers.

After residue analysis is complete for all trials, all trial and residue data are compiled and sent to IR-4 headquarters. IR-4 conducts an internal review of all the project data for quality assurance.  A project is then formulated for a registration submission to EPA for their review process. The EPA review may vary in length, but the final step of the process is an issued label for the registrant which then included the tested specialty crop for use. Then producers can legally use this chemistry in their pest management programs.