Agroaldea
THE MUNICIPALITIES OF TEGUESTE AND STA PARTICIPATE. Mª. GUIDE AND THE REGION OF SOUSS MASSA DRÀA.
The cooperation program, called RURALPEST, It is developed with community funds and seeks to promote environmental sustainability and food security in these agricultural regions.To this end, the phytosanitary products and residues present in fruits and vegetables have been identified., and the development of strategies for the sustainable use of these substances, that allow minimizing the risk of environmental contamination and guarantee the safety and health of farmers and consumers.
With this objective, the use of phytosanitary products carried out by small farms in both regions will be evaluated and an integrated management protocol for pests and diseases in crops will be designed..
In this way, A strategy will be designed that uses different complementary systems and represents an ecological method that allows reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides and minimizing their impact on the environment..
Tegueste, in Tenerife, and Santa María de Guía, in Gran Canaria, municipalities that have important agricultural activity and carry out the marketing of these productions in nearby environments, have been the areas selected for the collection of samples of these substances in the Canary Islands.
Thereafter, The use that is being made of these products will be studied and if there is a transfer of them to the water., soil or crops, for, later, prepare a manual of good practices adapted to the singularities of each territory in order to improve the use of these products. The same study is carried out in the Souss Massa Dràa region in Morocco.
In short, These actions allow us to highlight fruit and vegetable products from small local farms., as high quality products because they have a low level of phytosanitary products, by raising consumer awareness.
Currently there are alternatives to the use of pesticides that include cultivation methods using biological controls., such as pheromones and microbial pesticides, genetic engineering and methods of disrupting insect reproduction. These actions are gaining ground in the field because they are healthier and sometimes also more effective..
This pilot project, which will run until the end of the year, It is part of the Spain-External Borders Cross-Border Cooperation Operational Program (POCTEFEX) and is financed with resources from the European Regional Development Fund (EAFRD).
This is an initiative of the Government of the Canary Islands, promoted through the public company Gestión del Medio Rural de Canarias (GMR) and the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), which has the collaboration of the Regional Council of Souss Massa Draa (CRSMD) and the National Food Safety Office (ON).
The origin of this joint work arises from previous collaboration programs with the African country, aimed at fighting pests in palm groves and recovering fishing areas.