You can use just about whatever the heck you want on your crops (personal
use or commercial...sad but true) But, you can't sell a product as having
pesticidal, herbicidial, etc'cidal effects unless you get it registered
with the epa.
OTOH, if you're a commercial grower you can run into trouble using just
anything on your crops if that just anything produces in the crop (food
being the central concern) an unacceptable level of residue for some
chemical....O' course there are lots of technical loopholes and practical
loopholes (e.g., just what is it NOT getting tested for?)
So, for the baking soda example: If it's not registered for use for
podwery mildew control then you can't sell it as such. Incidentally, I
believe your intentions in selling it can be held against you...e.g.
you're selling it in such a way as to encourage fungicidal use though
you don't *directly* encouargae such use...Anyhow, You can use it,
give it to your neighbor, tell your local watermelon grower about it...
Now, suppose the watermelon grower uses it and their watermelon comes up
with X ppm NaCl in the tissue (getting tasty? :-)and suppose the allowable
tolerance for NaCl is X-2 ppm...now the watermelon grower's got trouble.
(Please note the abundant use of conditionals: if's and supposes...the
if's and supposes for the sake of argument/explanation so beloved by
philosphers such as me...That is, this example is purely fictious and is
not based on any knowledge about sodium bicarbonate or the us
gubnerment:-)
That's my incomplete and muddled understanding of the situation (which
happens to come from dinner conversations with my mother who has worked
in the 'cide sides of the EPA since Jimmy Carter got elected...back when I
was but a pubsescent nuisance :-) and the EPA was but a young offshoot of
the big mothership the USDA....
And, you know dinner conversations are only worth so much...not to be
quoted as the book....But, that is what your gubnerment is for...Write 'em
and ask 'em. They'll be happy to talk about all their infinitely baroque
regulations...your eyes might get glazed, but then again you might find it
interesting.
:-)
eliza
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