SCC GmbH – IPM in EU

IPM, Organic/Precision Farming

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

In the EU, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is one of the key elements of Integrated Production (IP), being mandatory for professional users since 2014.

The Sustainable Use Directive 2009/128 defines IPM as “careful consideration of all available plant protection methods and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of populations of harmful organisms and keep the use of plant protection products and other forms of intervention to levels that are economically and ecologically justified and reduce or minimise risks to human health and the environment. ‘Integrated pest management’ emphasises the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms”.

How you can benefit from IPM?

National Action Plans and national guidance have not considered IPM sufficiently until now. On European level, the new EU Green Deal Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Action Plans call for an EU-harmonised approach for IPM implementation. This opens new possibilities offering real benefits across the value chain of active substances and products. IPM compliance is a value-add not only for marketing and sales of plant protection active substances and products, but also a significant benefit in the registration procedure. This applies both for biorationals and agrochemicals. One example is the implementation of reduced dose rates and the number of necessary applications if an agrochemical is incorporated in a suitable IPM-strategy.

To fulfil the requirements for a more thorough implementation of IPM in the agricultural practise, IPM methods have to be integrated, for example, in product performance and efficacy testing and evaluation. This is often possible without increasing the costs for product testing through using “statistical spare treatments” for testing of IPM strategies.