Agroaldea
Integrated management relies on surveillance programs to decide appropriate health actions.
Integrated Pest Management (GIP), regulations on its control through biological uses, biotechnology or chemicals, It must be a form of “think and work” of farmers to do a study “permanente” of their crops and sustainable use of phytosanitary products.
This is stated by the general director of Health of Agricultural Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and environment, Valentin Almansa, who reviews the evolution of the GIP since its launch at the end of 2012.
The GIP is incorporated in Chapter III of the Royal Decree 1311/2012, of 14 September, which establishes the framework of action to achieve sustainable use of phytosanitary products, by reducing risks and their effects on human health and the environment.
For compliance with said Royal Decree, The National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Phytosanitary Products was subsequently prepared., thus complying with the Regulation of the European Commission 1107/2009, of the European Parliament and the Council, of 21 October of 2009, related to its marketing.
According to Almansa, Spain has been doing integrated pest management in organic and intensive production for “a long time”, but “there is an important part of the sector” -mainly in extensive farms- “who has not been so involved” in the development of these works, and “we turn to them” so that they “enter into this work philosophy”.
The philosophy of GIP is to confront a plant disease, globally, starting from a “good knowledge” of it and using “all the tools available” so that the farmer is not limited only to the use of phytosanitary products..
Integrated management relies on surveillance programs to detect the moment of entry of the pest, the level of infestation of the crop and, depending on it, decide appropriate health actions.
To facilitate this work, Magrama has published integrated management guides for six crops (cereals, pome fruit, olive grove, citrus, table grapes and processing grapes), which can be downloaded from their website www.magrama.gob.es, although more will be published, Almansa advances.
The guides contain a list of pests that can affect the crop, risk monitoring and estimation techniques, preventive measures, threshold and moment of intervention, chemical means of control and alternative measures to chemical control.
The GIP regulations also include the figure of a phytosanitary specialist technician to advise producers who work with crops whose demand for the use of these products is greater..
Almansa values the work carried out by this Department since the end of 2012 and highlights the functionality of the guides because they will represent “an important change and step forward” in the management of plant diseases.