The initiative arises from the problem raised by the lack of environmentally friendly plant protection alternatives that can be applied to horticultural crops produced outdoors and the need for the agro-industrial sector to adapt to the measures imposed by Directive 2009/128/EC. This Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishes the framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides.

The initiative arises from the problem raised by the lack of environmentally friendly plant protection alternatives that can be applied to horticultural crops produced outdoors and the need for the agro-industrial sector to adapt to the measures imposed by Directive 2009/128/EC. This Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishes the framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides.

This directive determines that from 2014 it will be mandatory to combine the biological control of pests and diseases with chemical control, prioritizing the former, in order to reduce the use of phytosanitary products of chemical origin and promote the use of phytosanitary products of natural origin, commonly called “zero residue” or “biopesticides”.

The objective of RED IMPULSA R-0 is the creation and implementation of a collaborative network, made up of professionals from various fields (farmers, researchers, advisors and technicians specialized in plant health control and agrobiotechnology) to achieve a series of objectives:

• Identify and develop projects related to the biological and integrated control of pests and diseases of horticultural crops.
• To promote the use and enhancement of new products and plant protection techniques that are more respectful of the environment.
• To promote the reduction of the consumption of conventional phytosanitary products in the production of these crops.

The recipients of the project’s actions are farmers belonging to agricultural cooperatives, plant health control technicians in the agri-food industry, consulting technicians and agricultural biotechnology R+D+i technicians, including entrepreneurs, who work in biological and integrated control of pests and diseases.

Almost the entire project will be developed in the autonomous communities of Navarra, La Rioja, Murcia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Aragon, where the companies are mostly SMEs and are mostly located in small rural areas. Thus, the project can contribute to reducing the depopulation of urban centers.

The project aims to train 30 recipients, although the initiative will reach a total of 100 workers, and to constitute a permanent collaboration space, made up of about 30 professionals and experts in biological control of pests and diseases, belonging to the public and private sectors.