ISHS Acta Horticulturae 525: International Conference on Integrated Fruit Production
IFP EXPERIENCES IN TRENTINO, ITALY |
| Authors: | C. Agnolin, C. Ioriatti, M. Pontalti, M.B. Venturelli |
| Abstract:
Trentino is an alpine region in the Northeast of Italy and is characterised by a tradition of high-quality apple growing and by small-sized enterprises with a high percentage of part-time fruit growers. Ten years ago, the public administration promoted a massive programme for integrated production based on the participation of the growers associations. Since then, this IFP objective has been realised over nearly the whole productive area of Trentino with the requirement on behalf of the individual producer to comply with the obligations incurred by his organisation. It was possible to realize this programme thanks to the massive presence throughout the territory of a large group of specialized technicians, who represented an important reference point for the agricultural enterprises by providing timely recommendation, field checks, and training courses for the implementation of the IFP. The techniques have been greatly improved through an annual overhaul of the guidelines. This has brought about an increasingly restricted use of plant protection products, agronomic techniques to safeguard the natural balance and the adoption of natural control of the insects whilst protecting the beneficials together with the systematic monitoring of the presence of pests and diseases. Today, new techniques, such as mating distruption, the distribution of bird nests in the orchards and others stimulating bio-diversity are being increasingly utilised. In order to facilitate the adoption of organic fruit-growing procedures on behalf of the IFP, a new specific technical refresher training program for extension specialists was started, thus providing greater opportunities to spread as widely as possible the biological techniques in the orchards of the province. | |
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