THE STATUS OF INTEGRATED FRUIT PRODUCTION IN POLAND

The stimulus to adopt IFP came from the Research Institute of Pomology at Skierniewice. In September 1990 a group of nine scientific workers led by Edmund Niemczyk was organised to prepare for implementation of IFP in Poland.

Using West European guidelines and experiments, as well as data collected in Poland, the Polish IFP guidelines were prepared and a special notebook for farmers printed and issued. In the spring of 1991 and 1992, three 3-day IFP short courses for 205 participants (including selected orchardists and local extension service workers) were provided by the Skierniewice Institute. From the participants in 1991 and 1992 44 and 49 volunteers respectively began to run part of their apple orchards according to IFP guidelines.

At the present time IFP is operating in five regions:

1. Grójec (central part of Poland) - 44 farms, area 105 ha, 6 extension workers.
2. Nowy Sacz (Southern part of Poland) - 16 farms, area 32 ha, 3 extension workers.
3. Rzeszow (South-eastern part of Poland) - 10 farms, area 25 ha, 9 extension workers.
4. Wisowa (central part of Poland) - 18 farms, area 82 ha, 2 extension workers.
5. Kampinos-Serock (central part of Poland) 5 farms, area 10 ha, 2 extension workers.

All these farms are visited during the season, usually every two weeks, by local extension workers and occasionally by workers from the Skierniewice Institute. In 1991 predatory mites (Typhlodromus pyri) resistant to phosalone and fenitrotion and reared in laboratories were introduced to all orchards.

Currently the growers from the Grójec and Nowy Sacz regions are in the process of gaining official registration of their groups.

The matter of labelling of the IFP apples is still under discussion. It is intended to start selling "IFP apples" on the market in autumn of 1993.

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