A progress report on Integrated Pest Management in the Asia and Pacific region was made by Mr Jan Ketelaar, CTA, FAO Asia.
Mr Ketelaar reported that, given the renewed attention and current prominent driving forces for reduction of pesticides related to food safety, international trade facilitation and enduring environmental and health concerns, the need for strong Integrated Pest Management programmes and policy support in the Asia and Pacific region is greater than ever. An update on progress made with, challenges faced in and future directions for implementation of IPM programmes in the Asia and Pacific region was provided. The programme for presentations and discussions to be held during the APPPC IPM Standing Committee meeting was also set. It was proposed that discussions at the IPM Standing Committee meeting would have an initial focus on currently reported outbreaks of rice Brown Plant Hoppers and management strategies employed in several parts of the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Broader pest and pesticide management issues would be elaborated on, including commercial pressures for the use of pesticides, advertisements in violation of the Code of Conduct, cross-border distribution and use of pesticides, progress in phasing out WHO Class I pesticides and trade barriers posed by excessive levels of pesticide residues on fresh produce intended for export markets.
Lessons learnt from presentations and discussions during the IPM Standing Committee meeting were expected to strengthen policy support for pesticide risk reduction and implementation of robust IPM programmes in the Asia and Pacific region.
Two other papers were presented:
The Session noted that there was a need to develop linkages to effectively utilize information collected at the farmers' level to be put to the global level. This would then enable a two-pronged approach to combat issues relating to highly hazardous pesticides.
There was a suggestion to give more attention to the use of botanical pesticides, which was often overshadowed by the promotion of biological control agents. A workshop to study this potential may be beneficial.
The Session was informed that some GAP modules on vegetable production being developed at the ASEAN level could be expanded to the global level, as these modules had incorporated extensive consideration in the limitation of pesticide usage.
