The group of agricultural engineers aims at phytosanitary prescription to reinforce food security

By Juan Herrera

Together with the technological company Agroslab, the General Council of Agricultural Engineers of Spain has presented, within the framework of the 14th Symposium on Plant Health, an app to facilitate the work of the agricultural technician in the prescription and make the process safer.

As for taking antibiotics a doctor must prescribe the medication, the protection of crops against pests and diseases needs a technician that prescribes, precisely, the type of product to be administered, as well as its dose and the time of application . It is what is known as phytosanitary prescription and is “the best control system to ensure plant health, protect food safety from farms and make a more responsible and efficient use of the products with which crops are treated, as As the own RD 1311/2012 of sustainable use of phytosanitaries stands out”. This has been manifested by the General Council of Agricultural Engineers of Spain, in the 14th National Symposium on Plant Protection, held in Seville.

This pattern of work allows a historical record of all treatments performed, which provides legal certainty to both the adviser and the owner of the farm

In order to be able to control the whole process, it is considered necessary, moreover, that this prescription be used, as a recipe, as the only document valid for the purchase of plant protection products. “The application of phytosanitaries is something that we take very seriously from the collective of Agricultural Engineering, because we act on crops from which we are going to get food and because their use also affects the environment. Hence the prescription by a technician is essential and for this reason we are promoting this way of proceeding with all our technicians”, comments Javier Lorén, president of the General Council of Agricultural Technical Engineers.

Development of the app and agreement with Munitec

In this line of work, the Council has signed an agreement with the technology company Agroslab to adapt the phytosanitary prescription to new communication technologies. As a result of this collaboration, the mobile application ‘Agroslab asesor GIP’ has been created, which significantly improves the current work processes in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and makes the process much safer. The app is connected to the phytosanitary register authorized by the Ministry, allows geolocalized access to the plots, sends the information to another app created for the farmer, validates the prescription in the field notebook and connects with the distribution channel of the product , whether private or cooperative enterprises.

In order to encourage the use of this tool, the Council will provide all agricultural association colleges who request it, free use of this app during the first year

To complete the action, Munitec, the Mutual Agricultural Engineers, will give 10 field notebooks to all those mutualist technicians who contract the Civil Liability insurance for phytosanitary prescription, since the highest accident rate in the sector is presented by the works related to GIP. “For technicians, working with the application and having contracted a proper Civil Liability will provide greater security in decision making, and also in legal terms if the case. Hence this joint commitment between the Council of Agricultural Engineers, Munitec and Agroslab, with the aim that this area of work so relevant to Agricultural Engineers is increasingly safe, both for the technician and for farmers”, says Javier Ramírez, President of Munitec.

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