TALLAHASSEE — Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has named Dow Agrosciences as the winner of the 2009 Commissioner’s Award for Pesticide Stewardship for programs that promote safe and environmentally friendly pesticide use. 
The award will be presented to representatives of Dow at today’s meeting of the Pesticide Review Council.
The Commissioner’s Award for Pesticide Stewardship was created by Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as a way to recognize industry leaders who have demonstrated a strong commitment to pesticide product stewardship. Pesticide stewardship programs are non-regulatory programs that are established and operated to avoid adverse pesticide effects to people, wildlife, or the environment, while allowing the beneficial use of that pesticide.
Dow Agrosciences won the award for its ongoing stewardship program for structural fumigation known as the “Caretakers” program. This program has been operating since 1995 and includes training programs and performance reviews for pest control companies that perform fumigations for the control of wood-destroying organisms such as termites. Features of the program include hands-on training, technical assistance, and on-site “quality assurance reviews” of fumigation procedures that emphasize safety to applicators and the public. Dow works closely with the department to update and revise the program as needed.
“This program is a model for how to make sure pesticides are used safely and effectively,” Bronson said. “It is so effective that we have required other companies to follow this approach when they have registered structural fumigants.”
The department’s Division of Agricultural Environmental Services licenses and regulates the pest control industry and is also responsible for registering pesticide products sold and distributed in Florida. For more
information about the division’s responsibilities, visit http://www.flaes.org.