Within the framework of Fontagro s Project "Sustainable control of HLB vector in family citriculture in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia" a new training workshop regarding Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was carried out last June 29th.
Activities took place at Santiago de Liniers, in the north province of Misiones, Argentina and were located in a family citrus farm, owned by a local grower.
Theoretical- practical training session was organized by professionals working at Extension Agency AER INTA Eldorado and Agricultural Experimental Station (EEA ) INTA Montecarlo both in Misiones.
23 citrus producers from the area attended and two growers associations also took part : Cooperativa Productores Unidos de Santiago de Liniers (PUSALI); Cooperativa Citrícola Agroindustrial de Misiones (CECAM).
Doris Bischoff, (AER INTA Eldorado) and Luis Acuña (EEA INTA Montecarlo) as Keynote speakers addressed the following topics:
- Integrated management of pests and diseases
- Black fly infection cycle
- Cultural practices within the lot aimed to reduce incidence of black fly and sooty mold
- Socialization of HLB status in the province.
- The Art of Pruning: formation pruning, cleaning pruning, annual pruning. Goals.
- What to do with trees that have never been pruned.
- Usefull tools and resources.
After the lectures, attendees were invited to address the practical aspects of IPM in the farm.
Growers expressed their interest regarding further training meetings to deepen on IPM techniques, nutritional management of citrus lots and others related to productivity improvement.
