Zaragoza, 22 June 2023.- Forty experts from 15 countries took part in a pilot training session on integrated pest management on 20 and 21 June at CIHEAM Zaragoza. The trial was part of the European project IPMWORKS, and has served to make adjustments to the content and format of the training activities that will be conducted across Europe up until October 2024 to implement sustainable agriculture strategies of proven effectiveness and cost-efficiency in pest and disease management.
Through a network of 250 farms, the IPMWORKS project gathers success stories in five agricultural sectors: arable crops, orchards, greenhouse crops, outdoor vegetable crops and vineyards. The project’s training activities offer resources and tools to farmers, advisors and practitioners to help them progress towards a more sustainable production model that is less dependent on plant protection products. CIHEAM Zaragoza is the organization responsible for training in the project that brings together 31 partners from 16 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom).
Joaquín Balduque, IPMWORKS project manager at CIHEAM Zaragoza is very satisfied with the results of the pilot training session, where participants have discussed the best way to use the training materials developed. “Over the last two days we have exchanged experiences and advanced in a common strategy so that farmers, advisors and practitioners in each country can use our training programme to find sustainable solutions to the specific problems they face on their farms”.
Integrated pest management consists of applying different pest control measures (prevention, monitoring, decision-making, non-chemical methods, among others) to limit the application of plant protection products solely to situations where they are really necessary. These measures are combined on the farms to reduce reliance on pesticides and minimize exposure of the environment and individuals to these substances, and at the same time ensure the farm’s profitability.
Besides the specific training activities, the materials developed in IPMWORKS will be made publicly available as a resource for agricultural professionals on the project’s website: ipmworks.net.