“I Love Bugs” reports El Ejido biological pest control cucumber

The Fruit and Vegetable Interprofessional Andalusia (HORTYFRUTA) has resumed after the summer period cycle of technical conferences and outreach to educate farmers on the implementation and consistency in the use of biological control techniques. El Ejido yesterday instead of calling for a hundred farmers and technicians who analyzed the advances in biological control in cucumber cultivation under plastic.

Once again, the talk included the grant from the European Union and the Government of Andalusia, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

David Meca, technical director of crops Cajamar Experimental Station Palmerillas, was in charge of setting the pace of the talks and debate. In his speech, he highlighted as strategic developments in the Biological Control of Cucumber a series of measures to facilitate their implementation.

Thus, the technical spoke of “the early installation before transplantation, supplementary feeding of selected pollen, optimizing production systems phytoseiid mites or new formulations adapted to each culture.” In addition to these measures, the technician said “the synergistic action of different predators Amblyseius combined or loose” and “the search for new species of predatory mites and the development of new complementary management strategies by using biofungicides”.

Advantages of biological control

As for the milestones achieved by the use of Biological Control, Mecca made mention of food security “derived from the reduction of residue levels in the product.” “Our production system,” he added, “has an important road traveled on sustainable use of pesticides and now we can say that the greenhouse is an agro-ecosystem.” In this sense, David Meca launched as a challenge “become an example of sustainability and not only in the garden of Europe”.

Representatives of Biological Control companies exposed to the audience the major developments that are applicable to the cucumber, one of the horticultural crops of major economic importance in Spain, as they revealed. On this occasion, the technicians responsible for informing about new products and treatments were launched Raul Serrano (Biocolor, SL), Julian Giner (Koppert Spain, SL), Ana Belen Arevalo (Agrobío, SL), and Antonio Robledo (Biobest Biological Systems , SL).

During the subsequent panel discussion Sunday Granados and Francisco Rodriguez participated as cucumber producers, accompanied by José Antonio Fernandez, coach of Agroiris SAT, and Miguel Gallardo, SCA technician Murgiverde

As for the introduction of biological control, the guests noted that the debate in late cucumber is usually “100% in our culture, because we see that improves the quality, food safety and, ultimately, because customers require us to some extent it. There is no alternative and no turning back “.

The problem of secondary pests

In the debate the main difficulties still persist were also analyzed and mention the proliferation of secondary pests that are becoming very problematic, such as red spider was. “The high temperatures cause the pest is easily expand, so we need an effective ‘bug’ specific to this pest,” they concluded.

At the close of the talk enlivened by a Spanish wine promotional material of the campaign I Love Bugs, our green revolution (www.Ilovebichos.com), with the collaboration of Agrobío, Biobest, Biocolor, Cajamar, Koppert and Syngenta was served.

The next talk, putting an end to the campaign, will be held in Castell de Ferro (Granada), next Thursday, September 24, at 19.00.

Source: Hortyfruta