Challenges and threats

One of the most complete and based estimates of the losses of the world-wide agriculture situates in two third parts of the potential production the losses of harvest been due to plagues, illnesses and bad grasses and that with the current methods only are able to avoid the half of these losses by half term. The royal decree 1311/2012 of Sustainable Use of Phytosanitary ware Products, that is the trasposición of the directive 2009/128/CE of the same name, treats to reinforce the application of the integrated management of plagues (GIP) that in this case has to understand that includes the properly said plagues, the illnesses and the bad grasses.

Has to remember that the agriculture, in any one of his variety of modalities, operates in an ecosystem, the called agricultural ecosystem or agrosistema, that follows the rules of operation of any ecosystem although in this case it was very modified in comparison with other more natural ecosystems. Although one of the modifications was the simplification of the number and diversity of organisms, the complexity of the system keeps on being very high. In my presentation of the Vegetal congress World, celebrated in Valency the past month of October, used the diagram trófico simplified of the figure attaches to signal some of the most remarkable components of the agricultural ecosystem in relation with the vegetal health (see Figure 1).

A light calculation of the number of interactions that can give in an ecosystem, even being this very simple as it could be an annual crop of short length, would carry us to the conclusion that there are thousands of these interactions between the diverse species of plants, of phytophagous organisms, of predatory or parasitic species, and of microorganisms that cause illnesses or antagonisms in the previous; all this besides influenced by the abiotic conditions that have effect in all the components and his relations. Although it only was with this data, can comprise that the GIP, that treats to operate of integrated form on all the components and his relations, confronts to an enormous complexity that only his deep knowledge allows to handle it of reasoned and reasonable form.

A first necessary step for the development based and application of methods of GIP is the knowledge of the agricultural ecosystem in which we want to operate. And the vision has to be integrated , global, further of the own plots of the distinct scientific disciplines involved. The Ecology —like scientific discipline integradora— gives us this vision. Alas, the Ecology no always has attended the needs of the agricultural ecosystem, so that some author has said that the integrated control of plagues has given more to the Ecology of what has received of her. It is a pity because a more decided contribution of the ecólogos to the knowledge of the agricultural ecosystems would benefit very quickly the GIP. From here, therefore, it can do a call to the investigation in Ecology so that it devote more efforts to the agrosistemas.

In what it refers specifically to the lines of investigation in control of plagues stand out three fields in which it has accelerated the progress of the knowledge and of his technological applications. I am referring Me To the field of the control of plagues properly said; I do not go me to refer to the control of illnesses and bad grasses by fault of space and because, besides, do not know them with the same intensity. The first field includes the biological control. Nowadays in Europe, and very specifically in Spain, there is more biological control that never; there is not more than seeing how the application of the same in the last decade in crops such as the frutícolas, the citrus fruit and the horticultural protected (less in strawberry) has allowed the reduction of phytosanitary ware products and his more efficient use. I do not speak exclusively of the biological control in which sueltan natural enemies, but also of that in which they apply the technicians of conservation of natural enemies that are the base in fruticultura or citricultura.

Here, in this first field of progress of the GIP also could include the microbial control in which they begin to have of increasing way of ready to base of bacteria, virus and funguses that cause illness in the plagues and expects that the presence in the market of these bioplaguicidas grow of remarkable way in the next lustros.

The second field of the integrated management of plagues in which it progresses rapidly is in the one of the relations between the cultured plants and the insects and phytophagous acaruses. This relation Is seeing that it is tremendously complex and rich in mechanisms that can be taken advantage of to comprise better the nature of the damages that cause these phytophagous in the cultured plants and to do that the plants are more resistant or tolerantes to the plagues. We do not forget, on the other hand, that the modern technicians of modification of the genomes of the plants are allowing that they have of plants with mechanisms very diverse of resistance. The progress in this field in the commercial plane is only in the beginnings and could be faster if we lose the fear, that no the scientifically rigorous caution, to the applications biotecnológicas in the agriculture as it has not had it the human and veterinary medicine; it does not understand why it has it the vegetal medicine.

At last, a third field of increasing innovation in the last times in the integrated management of plagues is in the one of the internal communication of the species of insects and acaruses (pheromones, basically) and the one who establish with the plants of which feed. To this last already have referred us in the previous paragraph; in the field of the pheromones follows advancing all over the world the agricultural surface cover with pheromones, especially for the sexual confusion (the application in the plots of crop of substances that serve of sexual communication between males and females that prevents the meeting between both). Have the impressesion, although I do not have real data that base it, that the advance in the application in this field of the pheromones is not followed to the same speed by the basic investigation on how produces the communication through these mediators. If this impressesion corresponds with the reality would be in the reverse situation to the described in the previous paragraph in which the fast theoretical advance gives his fruit in technological developments to a lower speed.

Undoubtedly the application of the RD1311/2012 goes to give, already is it giving and at least speaks of this, a push to the progress of the vegetal health in the Spanish agriculture. From the Spanish Association of Vegetal Health (Aesave) have been still in the two last years the gestation of this legislative development, so much the own RD like the Plan of National Action (BREAD) that derives of the previous and go on doing it treating to contribute the point of view of more than one thousand professionals of the vegetal health to the corresponding sectorial table of the Magrama. They have done important advances in the intentions expressesed in the BREAD although perhaps it have been excessively slow or cautious in some appearances such as the necessary learning for the advisers of GIP, key figure for the application of the GIP in the field, or in the forcing to have of advisers of GIP in crops that cover million hectares of the Spanish agriculture like the crops extensivos. It will be necessary to expect, such as it has expressesed repeatedly the Magrama, that are at the beginning and that it is his intention go modifying and expanding the field of application foreseen at present in the BREAD.

From the year 2014 will be compulsory that all the exploitations realizar a monitory of plagues. But, it will assume the agriculturalist these formalities like a fetter or like an investment? In my opinion, if the agriculturalist sees it like a cost more to fulfil with the norms are lost. It is a challenge for the technical world of the vegetal health in Europe that the agriculturalist can check that the quality consultancy of GIP allows him improve the productivity and, therefore, the profit at the same time that fulfils with the norms of the European agriculture and keeps him the current markets and even opens him others that are very demanding in these matters of salubridad alimentary. Fix the quantity of technicians that nowadays act in the Spanish agriculture under diverse umbrella and denominations: technicians of integrated production, technicians of ADV, of Atria, etc. Do It because they win his wage, because the agriculturalist sees that they resolve them problems and help them to keep the profitability of his exploitation until the point that in the vegetal health of the Spanish agriculture there is a before and an after these technicians began to act. If it was not like this, they would have disappeared. We are therefore optimistic.

What marks the difference in the progress of application of the GIP is, especially, the type of crop. Without doing a systematic route by all the crops, the horticultural crops, the frutícolas and the citrus fruit are those that have improved more noticeably in the last years regarding the control of the plagues in strict sense, that is to say, the control of insects and phytophagous acaruses; I do not dare to think on the control of illnesses and bad grasses. In other crops like the olivo or the lucerne, for example, have experienced remarkable advances in concrete plagues. It is a vision, mine, very partial and other colleagues can have another opinion. There are several indicators that, to know his evolution in the last lustros, would allow us answer with more precision and objectivity to the question of the crops and communities more active in this field. Between them, there is not doubt that finds Andalucia, what can not surprise us given the importance of the agriculture in this Earth. The presence of several universities and the CSIC in the Community with programs very notable for the GIP, the effort of the administration in promoting the asociacionismo around the technical quality consultancy in vegetal health, the dynamism of some agricultural sectors pointers in collecting this same quality consultancy are factors that, among others, have helped to offer this so significant progress in the Community.

The integrated production is a technology that has progressed very in relation with the scientific advance from his billed formal does something less than 50 years. It would stand out in her the emphasis that puts in the integrated development of the technology to produce and protect our harvests. It does not have corsets apriorísticos if they are not endorsed by the data. The phytosanitary ware products cover the needs of control when the agrosistema does not offer alternative or do not know to take advantage of them. They are, therefore, indispensable in a lot of occasions but even in these cases can use them better of what do it in occasions and, in spite of the progress experienced, follow lacking of necessary tools for a more sustainable use of the phytosanitary ware; for example, of reliable values of economic thresholds and of technicians of follow-up fenológico of populations of insects and acaruses.

There are insects and acaruses that are beneficial for the control of plagues. His utilisation is increasing and in some spectacular cases the speed with which has grown his use. The case of the control of plagues in the greenhouses in the northern basin of the Mediterranean is one of the most illustrative samples. It can not say which are the natural enemies, not even the most common since it would be necessary long but nowadays there is more than one hundred natural enemies that sell in Europe for the biological control by part of tens of companies. Even being spectacular these advances, are it so much or more the registered in the biological control of conservation —conserve and improve the natural enemies that already have in our agrosistemas. In Lleida, fifteen years ago were necessary 4 or 5 specific treatments for the control of the called ‘red spider' of the manzanos; nowadays the average of specific treatments for this plague is underneath of one. The apparent miracle has due to the fact that we have learnt, thanks to the investigation that has done in the universities and to the quality consultancy of the services of vegetal health and the technicians of ADV, to handle the predatory acaruses that are presents in our kitchen gardens of manzanos and perales. Of these examples there is a few in the European agriculture. It is necessary to know better what predatory, parasitoides and entomopatógenos have in our fields, how work and learn to take out party of the same.

From does time know that the plants have composed that they allow them defend of the insects and phytophagous acaruses that pretend to obtain in them his food. It is not therefore odd that the man thought already does time in extracting them for the control of plagues and later achieved sintetizarlos for a massive application to a reasonable price; it is the origin of several insecticide matters of wide utilisation. Other insecticide matters have found his origin in other natural sources like diverse microorganisms and marine organisms. His use, however, is in occasions very garbled; conviven in the same denomination products of nature and way of action reasonably known and with efficiency showed with others much less contrasted. I think that it would be necessary to put a bit of order in this sector; they would benefit the better products.

The GIP in the horticultural intensive and, especially, in the protected has advanced spectacularly in what it goes of century. In Catalonia the sector is relatively small if we compare it with Almería, Murcia and Huelva, but allowed us in the years 80 and 90 of the past century take advantage of first the experience of the greenhouses of Holland and England and later develop our own system very based in the conservation of the predatory and parasitoides that are presents in the surroundings of the greenhouses Mediterranean. In the south, the stage was prepared for the explosion of the use of biological control before it did it in the first years of this century; the field of Cartagena already had achieved to cover the greater part of surface of pepper with the biological control of travel, white flies and other plagues but went the scandal of the waste of phytosanitary ware unauthorised in some vegetables what encouraged to employ massively the biological control in Almería and rest of Murcia. I think that there are challenges still to which answer; in my opinion is pending to take out party of the natural enemies that there is in the surroundings of the greenhouses not to have to be soltando so many species in the same crop. Also it follows slope a better utilisation of the biological control in the production of strawberry. But for this is necessary to reinforce the R&D hit to the terrain in the places in where the horticultural crop protected is the main half of life.

Ramón Albajes is chair of the Universitat of Lleida, in the department of Vegetal Production and Forestry Science, and specialist of Agrotecnio Center, of the Irta.