Reducing applications and actives to satisfy. customer. requirements. The Moroccan Cherry Tomato Project

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1 The Moroccan Cherry Tomato Project Reducing applications and actives to satisfy customer requirements

2 How it all started The project was initiated by Thanet Earth, one of the UK s largest importers of cherry tomatoes from Morocco and a Bayer global food chain partner. Thanet Earth and their Moroccan supplier, Duroc, invited Bayer Morocco to collaborate in a Food Chain Partnership project to tackle the marketability challenges. As soon as Thanet Earth had outlined their specific requirements, the Bayer Morocco team organized meetings with Duroc representatives to work on the various issues. A shared analysis led to a common understanding of those issues and development of an action plan. What we aimed to achieve The prime objective of this Food Chain Partnership project is to produce healthy, high-quality cherry tomatoes in a sustainable manner for export to Northern Europe. This involves optimizing the use of agrochemicals to reduce the number of active ingredients and spray applications without compromising on food quality or building up resistances. Another key goal is to lower residue levels to comply with MRL legislation and customers secondary requirements. Last but far from least, the cherry tomatoes have to look and taste good and be of the right consistency so they sell well.

3 Who is involved Duroc: One of Morocco s largest producers and exporters of cherry tomatoes grown on more than 300 ha of land in Southern Morocco. In the UK, Duroc has a market share of over 40 %. As a customer-oriented company, Duroc is well aware of the export challenges and is ready to tackle them through production of high-quality cherry tomatoes, with safety, sustainability and traceability ensured for all food chain players. Thanet Earth: Distributes fresh produce from all over the world and is Duroc s main customer in the UK. Here, too, top quality is an absolute priority for a company that is very sensitive to customer requirements. Bayer: One of Morocco s leading crop science companies, Bayer provides its partners with the best possible solutions to tackle their different challenges, e.g. through advice on spraying programs, training in safe handling, regular in-field monitoring, advice on wastewater management, residue analysis and project evaluation from planting to harvest.

4 The integrated crop solution At various workshops, Bayer s experts closely collaborated with Duroc s technicians to draw up an optimized integrated crop solution. The crop protection program was developed to deal with any situation from worst- to best-case scenarios and confront all possible threats that could affect the quality and safety of the produce. During the first year of the project, a demo trial with the variety Katalina was conducted on 6 ha. For comparison purposes, a conventional spray program was applied to another 63 ha of land. Weekly visits to the field for monitoring were organized by the partners teams in order to adapt the crop protection program to local conditions, e.g. pest infestations and variations in the weather. The main focus was on monitoring with the aim of reducing the number of active ingredients and spray applications. The major threats targeted as a first priority were white flies, Tuta absoluta (tomato leafminer), thrips, Oidium and mildew. Calypso, Decis Flux and Flint were the Bayer crop protection products used to treat these pests and diseases. Training measures were organized on the safe use of agrochemicals, safe handling of empty canisters, best agricultural practices, application techniques and wastewater management. The sustainability gains were of both an economic and environmental nature, e.g. through optimizing the number of sprays, installing Phytobac for wastewater management, and applying the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) in setting up the crop protection program. Last but not least, residue analyses were conducted for food chain and comparison purposes. The expertise of the local Bayer team helped us to improve our crop monitoring procedures, which led to a significant reduction in the number of preventive treatments. Duroc team member

5 What we achieved The key achievements were a reduction of 20 % in the number of spray applications, over 35 % fewer detected cases of mildew, and three instead of four active ingredients used. The average yield in the project plot was 108 t/ha as against 103 t/ha in the comparative plot. These successes were largely due to the regular monitoring of the crop s progress and the weekly meetings to adapt the program to any changes in the local conditions. All the partners have benefited from a strong relationship based on trust and collaboration. The fact that the production process has become transparent reinforced the confidence of Duroc s customers in this cherry tomato producer. Next steps This Food Chain Partnership project is continuing for a third year with the same objective of ensuring food quality and safety. The total acreage is being expanded to 300 ha. This project is helping Thanet Earth ensure that the production of cherry tomatoes in Morocco continues to adapt to the needs of the UK market. It s also reinforcing the relationship we have with our key partner, Duroc. We are very pleased indeed to see that the project has been such a success and that it s now moving forward with a roll-out to their entire tomato growing area! Robert James, Technical Director, Thanet Earth Amine Maataoui Belabbes Production Manager Duroc Groupe Delassus

6 Consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of the need for healthy nutrition. Food Chain Partnerships help to supply consumers with high-quality fresh produce, which forms the basis of a healthy diet. But such partnerships can only succeed if they involve every player in the food chain from the farmer and processor to the exporter or importer and retailer. Bayer CropScience has the global experience and cutting-edge expertise to create a successful partnership at every level. For more information contact: Bayer SA Tours Balzac Angle rue de l Epargne et Bv d Anfa Morocco Phone: salma.bittar@bayer.com Duroc Agadir Morocco Thanet Earth United Kingdom Bayer CropScience AG Food Chain Management Alfred-Nobel-Str Monheim Germany Phone: Fax: foodchainpartnership@bayer.com Internet: by Bayer CropScience FCP