WALLINGFORD, UK — The Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, or CABI, has joined forces with the ISEAL Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Coalition in the fight to implement better, less chemical-dependent, ways for farmers to manage agricultural pests and diseases that account for around 40% of lost crops worldwide. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between both organizations.
The IPM Integrated Pest Management Coalition is composed by ISEAL Alliance members: Better Cotton Initiative, Bonsucro, Fairtrade International, Forest Stewardship Council, Global Coffee Platform, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, Golf Environment Organization, Sustainable Agriculture Network and Rainforest Alliance.
The overall long term goal of the coalition is to reduce or eliminate the use of Highly Hazardous Pesticides and to achieve a significant reduction of pesticide risks to health and the environment with effective standard and certification system’s tools.
CABI’s mission towards helping to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals is to work collaboratively to improve people’s lives by providing information and applying expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.
The MoU with the ISEAL IPM Coalition aims to help farmers to increase their capacity to grow better quality crops and fight pests and diseases – bringing science from the laboratory to the field – thanks to the promotion of CABI’s Plantwise Knowledge Bank as well as:
- Sharing knowledge on sustainable pest management strategies
- Strengthening knowledge exchanges on alternative methods for pest management
Identifying and focusing on specific pest-disease problems relevant to the sectors both parties work in.
Cambria Finegold, Global Director, Knowledge Management, at CABI, said, “One of the ways in which CABI works to help the 500 million smallholder farmers around the world grow more and lose less is to present them with the latest knowledge and advise on how to tackle devastating pest and diseases.
“Our partnership with the ISEAL IPM Coalition is a major step forward in disseminating the very best in information and expertise into the hands of those who need it to grow healthy and sustainable crops but also protect their livelihoods.”
Other areas of cooperation as part of the new agreement includes exploring the possibilities to train Plantwise plant doctors and other CABI staff on sustainability standards and promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences on integrated pest management.
The partnership will also explore the possibilities to implement pest-specific integrated pest management events and workshops as well as sharing examples of good practice and alternatives to pesticides.
For the IPM coalition, the technical and field experience of nine standard systems covering many countries and diverse production systems combined with CABI’s rich information about alternative pest control methods provide a great opportunity for technicians of farms, fields and forests to responsibly offer the best available information for least toxic chemical or non-chemical pest control methods.
The dissemination of this upgraded information package to thousands of stakeholders of the IPM coalition members will not only lead to transparent information about sustainable pest management, but most importantly contribute to a more informed selection of pest control alternatives with the least environmental and human impacts.
About CABI
CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International) is an international not-for-profit organization that improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.
