SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Agriculture, and in the exercise of its functions with respect to the control of pests and diseases of the different crops that are present in the Canary Islands, has obtained a exceptional authorization by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for the use and commercialization in the archipelago of the phytosanitary product with the trade name Movento Gold (Spirotetramat) for the control of mealybugs ‘Nipaecoccus nipae’ and ‘Dysmicoccus brevipe’ in crops tropical pineapple and avocado.
The request has had a positive response from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, granting two applications of the Movento Gold product to tropical pineapple farmers in a period between July 3 and October 28, 2023.
Specifically, it is a resolution that extends the one already achieved by the General Directorate of Agriculture for the cultivation of avocados on May 9, and is integrated into the work protocol between the autonomous department, the Canarian Institute of Agricultural Research (ICIA) and the Cabildo de El Hierro for the recovery of tropical pineapple production on the island.
One of the main phytosanitary problems of tropical pineapple cultivation is the cottony mealybug ‘Dysmicoccus brevipes’, as well as the problems derived from the lack of disinfection of the cultivated land after repeated production processes in the same enclosure (nematodes, soil fungi, among others), includes a note from the Executive.
The mealybug causes two problems in the cultivation of tropical pineapples, on the one hand, weakening of the plants due to the feeding action of the pest and, on the other hand, being a vector of the viral complex, causes the weakening of the plant, leading to death. Of the same.
At present, it is very difficult to obtain authorizations for phytosanitary products for these harmful organisms due to the high costs involved in preparing a registration dossier and the low income (returns) that manufacturers will obtain, due to the small area of tropical pineapple existing in Europe.
EUROPEAN REGULATIONS INCREASINGLY RESTRICTIVE
Likewise, European regulations are increasingly restrictive with respect to the use of phytosanitary products of chemical origin, with drastic reductions of up to 50% of certain phytosanitary products and promoting and encouraging organic production as a form of production in Europe.
The General Director of Agriculture, Augusto Hernández, has highlighted that the efforts of the department with the General Directorate of Agricultural Production Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have borne fruit and exceptional authorization has been obtained to combat the plague of the cochineal
Along these lines, he explained that “obtaining this exceptional authorization is very important, not only because of the difficulties it entails, but also because it will save the tropical pineapple campaign in the Canary Islands, especially on the island of El Hierro, where this crop constitutes a fundamental pillar in the primary sector and the island’s economy”.
Within the recovery program for the cultivation of tropical pineapple in the Canary Islands that the Ministry has promoted, Hernández points out that “this authorization was considered as the main objective, in addition to other challenges in the medium and long term, in which work continues and progress is being made.”