REPORT ON INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT MEASURES

Transcription

1 REPORT ON INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT MEASURES PORTUGAL This report was issued in conformity with the provisions of Article 14 to the (EU Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and Council, of 21 October establishing a establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides

2 Report on Integrated Pest Management Implementation I. Background 1 According to the provisions of Article 14 to the EU Directive 2009/128/EC of 21 October establishing a framework for community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides, Member States have to take all necessary measures to promote low pesticideinput pest management, giving wherever possible priority to non-chemical methods, so that professional users of pesticides switch to practices and products with the lowest risk to human health and the environment among those available for the same problem. Moreover Member States are to develop or support the necessary conditions for the implementation of integrated pest management addressing in particular, that professional users have at their disposal information and tools for pest monitoring and decision making, as well as advisory services on Integrated Pest Management. In addition, Member States are to describe how they will ensure that the general principles of Integrated Pest management ( ) are implemented by all professional users by 1 January It is therefore appropriate to report all measures taken so far as to achieve the objective stated above with respect to the implementation of IPM in Portugal as from entry into force of the Directive. Due to late transposition of Directive 2009/128/EC to national law that was only effective at the 16 th April 2013, by the publication of Law nº 26/2013 of 11 April, it was not formally possible to comply with the provisions of Article 14 in respect to the date at which a report on the implementation of paragraphs 1 and 2 thereto would have to be submitted to the Commission. However, IPM principles, in total or in part have been under implementation throughout the years in Portugal as has been explained in this report. Below, under point II. is a brief description of the relevant existing (in place or revoked) legislative framework with respect to the implementation of IPM in Portugal. Also, in chapter III a summary overview highlighting some of the most important milestones and achievements in the process is presented. Point IV presents a brief discussion on actions already taken or under development to complement and or improve IPM implementation in Portugal as foreseen in the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products issued on the 16 October Direcção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária

3 II. Legislative framework - Decree-Law nº 180/95 of 26 July and complementary legislation regulating crop protection methods including Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Production (IP). (revoked by Decree-Law nº 256/2009 of 24 September); - Decree-Law nº 256/2009 of 24 September establishing the principles and guidance for Integrated Pest Management practice and Integrated Production and technical guidelines for the implementation of Integrated Pest Management, Integrated Production and Organic Farming and setting an official accreditation system for technical advisors; - Decree-Law nº 37/2010 of 13 March, adapting D.L. 256/2009 to provisions of national legislation transposing Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December, on services in the internal market and Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 September on the recognition of professional qualifications; - Law nº 26/2013 of 11 April, regulating the distribution, sales and application of professional use plant protection products and adjuvants and defining procedures for monitoring the use of plant protection products. (transposition of EU Directive 128/2009 to national legislation); - Ordinance nº 304/2013 of 16 October, approving and publishing the National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (PANUSPF). 2 III. Overview on IPM implementation in Portugal Integrated Pest Management is regulated in Portugal since 1995, with the publication of Decree-Law nº 180/95 of 26 July and complementary legislation regulating crop protection methods including Integrated Pest management (IPM) and Integrated Production (IP). Under this legislative framework all professional users of plant protection products on a voluntary basis could be associated to officially recognized (by the competent authority) farmer organizations that were obliged to employ professionally qualified advisors/counsellors with specific training to provide technical assistance and counselling on IPM and IP to their associated farmers. Additionally, farmers benefiting from financial support according to the Agri-Environmental program established under EC Regulation nº 2078/92 would need to prove that adequate training was provided from those agricultural organizations to which they were associated. Under this regime, tools for pest monitoring and decision-making, as well as warning services on good plant protection practice and integrated pest management were available, in particular, farmers were obliged to follow and or hold: Crop-specific guidelines for the implementation of IPM principles, including, when available, relevant pest monitoring methods and tools, risk estimates and economic threshold values, recommended plant protection products;

4 record keeping on the monitoring of harmful organisms, the use of fertilization, cultivation techniques, irrigation practices and plant protection products; monitoring and controls carried out by the regional services of the Ministry of Agriculture to farm organizations and farmers. Table 1. : Progress in area under Integrated Pest Management (IPM/PI) or Integrated Production (IP/PRODI), since PI PRODI With respect to the Warning services ( referred to above, they were established in 1964 and are distributed throughout the country comprising at present a total of 16 active stations both public (14) and private (2) and have been producing technical information over the years to support decision making to associated farmers. The content of the warnings has obviously progressed throughout the years with the evolution in the scientific and technical knowledge with respect to crop production and protection. Principles of Good Plant Protection Practice and chemical control based on advice have progressed in the recent years due to the implementation of the national legislation to IPM and IP, having incorporated information such as the biology of the enemy in question, nocivity factors, risk estimates and economic threshold values, recommendations on the cultural, biological and chemical control techniques and tools available. At present Warnings in general contain the following information: 1. Information on the biology, life cycle and nocivity (risk) factors of most important pest/disease per crop and recommended means to prevent and/or suppress the harmful organisms; 2. Recommendations on adequate cultivation techniques, cultivars and phytossanitary measures; 3. recommendation on fertilization, liming and irrigation/drainage practices; 4. available methods for monitoring harmful organisms including observations in the field, meteorological measurements and forecasts.

5 5. Economic threshold values for each enemy/crop/region when available; 6. Reference to available biological, physical, cultural and chemical methods for pest control; 7. Selection of plant protection products authorized for the specific problem and advice on the appropriate dose and or number of applications depending on risk factors and pest pressure; 8. Indications of measures to manage and control the development of resistance. 4 With respect to the chemical control, since 1994, specific criteria for the selection of plant protection products under IPM and IP practices were established and based on the toxicological profile, potential for groundwater contamination and effects on beneficial organisms. Therefore only a selection of plant protection products from all products authorized and placed on the market was authorized for use under IPM/IP. In 2009 the specific criteria were revised to take into account the classification and labelling of plant protection products according to Directive 1999/45/EEC and specific labelling requirements as provided under Directive 91/414/EEC. By the end of 2007, around 150 farmer organizations, employing ca 550 qualified technical advisors were implementing IPM or IP in different crops (72 crops). Around ha were under these production modes. Wine and table grape production was the agricultural sector where IPM or IP were most significant. With the publication of new community legislation including Regulation (EC) 1698/2005 and the strategic guidelines for rural development (programming period for ) IPM practice no longer benefited from financial support that was however continued for the support of Integrated Production. New legislation was thus produced and published as Decree-Law 256/2009 of 24 September. The impact of this legal framework on the development and implementation of IPM was visible, as a significant decrease in the number of farmer organizations, technical advisors and farmers adopting sustainable modes of protection and crop production in the following years, was observed. In fact, no longer are farmers in the obligation to be associated to agricultural organizations in order to receive professional advice and the practice of Integrated Production (still financially supported) does not require mandatory technical advisory and support. It is estimated that presently only ca 15 professional farmer organizations are actively promoting IPM and IP, mainly in the Lisboa and Vale do Tejo region and for the following crops: vegetables, pome and stone fruits and vines. It is also estimated that around ha (data from 2012) is under Integrated Production. It is also estimated that about 755 technical advisors are professionally qualified to give advice to farmers on IPM (235), IP (238) and Organic farming (282) principles and practices (source:

6 IV Implementing IPM under (EU) Directive 128/2009 report on measures taken As introductory information, it must be stated that the implementation of IPM and IP in Portugal is shared between two different Official bodies, DGADR (General Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development), holding the competences for certification of training courses for advisors, distributers and farmers, and certification of professional qualified advisors in different modes of production (IPM, IP and Organic Farming) including elaboration and publication of Guidelines and legislation in this respect and DGAV (Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary Affairs) responsible for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 1107/2009/EC on the placing on the market of plant protection products and on Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides that holds technical competences to support the implementation of the different modes of production is is the appointed coordinator for the execution and implementation of the National Action Plan. 5 Directive (EU) 128/2009 of 21 October was transposed to national legislation by Law nº 26/2013 of 11 April. Provisions for the obligatory implementation of the general principles of Integrated Pest Management are set in article 16 and a full description of the general principles is given in Annex II of this legislation. As provided for in article 51 of this Law, a National Action Plan (NAP) for the sustainable Use of Plant protection Products was published and officially approved as from the 16 th October As explained above, both formal and informal measures designed to ensure the application by all professional users of the principles of IPM have been set for several years however are also addressed in the NAP. In fact, the NAP has been designed to consider as one of the strategic objectives, the Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural and Forestry Systems. Under this strategic objective two priority areas under the scope of the present report are identified as follows: I. Promoting the adoption of the general principles of IPM; II. Promoting the adoption of production modes with low input of chemical based plant protection products; I. Promoting the adoption of the general principles of IPM; As referred to above, several of the general principles of IPM as described in Annex III to the EU Directive 2009/128/EC are already observed by a number of farmers that still practice IPM and or IP. However, the aim is to extend the practice to all professional users. Therefore, three lines of work are in progress and foreseen in the NAP, namely: Promoting availability to professional users of information and tools for decision making.

7 In this respect, the competent authority, (DGAV), has made available or is in the process of making available in the short term through the official website the following technical documents: o o o o Volume I Definition, principles and tools in Integrated pest management (already published); Volume II Updated Crop specific Guidelines on biological life cycle of main enemies, methods for risk estimation, economic threshold values, record keeping model and control measures (to be published); Volume III Toxicological and Ecotoxicological Classification and labelling of plant protection products placed on the market and effects on main beneficial organisms (to be published); Volume IV Generic model for record keeping (to be published). 6 It should be highlighted that the publications referred to above were already being produced under national legislation but are now revised documents to take into account specificities and new approaches laid down in the eight principles of IPM. Advice and awareness raising for professional users for the implementation of IPM DGAV with the collaboration of other public entities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Seas have done several seminars (6 in 2013) and technical meetings with farmers, advisors and regional agriculture services have been undertaken so far, involving a total of ca 1500 participants. For 2014 a total of 10 events are already programmed. In the scope of advice for professional users the National Warning System has been making many changes in the warnings to the professional users in order to promote the adoption of the general principles of IPM, in all regions of the country. Monitoring of IPM implementation At the level of monitoring a Monitoring and Control plan focusing on the professional users is under discussion with the Regional Services of the Ministry of Agriculture and Seas, as to be implemented as soon as possible. This Plan is also being coordinated with the IFAP (Institute for Financial Support of Agriculture and Fisheries). Farmers benefiting from financial support to practice IP or Organic Farming are already controlled by the Regional Services of the Ministry together with the IFAP regarding direct payments for the correct implementation of the cross-compliance measures and measures to maintain good agricultural and environmental conditions as set under the Council Regulation EEC 2078/2003.

8 II. Promoting the adoption of production modes with low input of chemical based plant protection products Under this item the main line of work consists of actions towards awareness raising and technical advice to professional users on IPM. Education and training is a vital part of IPM implementation. Training courses of technical advisors and farmers are frequently carried out and availability is publicly displayed at the website of the regional services of the Ministry, DGADR and private certified training organizations. So far it is estimated that around farmers have received training in the sustainable use thematic areas and are now certified as professional users of plant protection products. 7 Also, as referred to above, the National Warning Services play an important role in providing the correct information to farmers. Therefore, it is envisaged that the technical advisors undergo complementary training in the full subjects of IPM general principles in order to revise and update accordingly the warnings that are produced with additional information that has not been given systematically in the past, giving more focus to alternative methods for pest control and complete information on the toxicological, ecotoxicological profile and effects on beneficial organisms for all authorized products in order to support decision making. Also, the Farm advisory system under article 12 of Regulation (EC) 73/2009 of 19 January serves around farmers benefiting from direct payments that are obliged to respect the statutory management requirements under cross compliance and the good agricultural and environmental conditions. Advisors will be receiving up to date guidelines and information issued in accordance with the thematic areas of Directive 2009/128/EC in general and IPM principles in particular for inclusion in their advisory actions promoted with farmers. Protocols are to be agreed between DGAV and the National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV I.P.) in order to promote R&D actions towards improving knowledge on alternative methods for plant protection and crop production. Additionally thematic electronic platforms ( and have been created in order to disseminate and contribute to an active exchange of technical information on research for novel crop protection tools and development of practices and strategies in crop production and sustainable use of natural resources. Lisbon, 14 March, 2014