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Province
of Livorno – Data and Analyses Health and environmental controls
were activated in the past aimed at verifying compliance
with current legislation, whose natural outcome consisted
in the application of sanctions of an administrative
or judicial nature.
Recent standards in both environmental circles
and in health circles suggest inserting controls in
a wider environment and health regulation plan.
The main objective is to obtain an updateable
picture of the state of quality of the environment,
of workers’ health and of the level of contamination
of foodstuffs. The structural aspects of the agricultural sector
suggest considering the problems tied to the use of
plant protection products as not strictly limited to
workers. In fact,
it is an activity that is widespread over the territory,
whose organizational and structural specificities are
such as to discourage an automatic transposition of
what is provided for by Law 626/94 for the other productive
sectors. In fact,
worker exposure constitutes a risk factor limited to
a small number of people. If, however, we take into consideration the
dispersion of the active principles in the environment
and the presence of residuals in foodstuffs, the source
of risk arrives at involving a much vaster universe
that includes, with different intensity, all consumers. The growing concern of public opinion regarding
exposure to xenobiotic substances suggests, in fact,
studying the health and environmental problems tied
to the use of plant protection products in depth, with
particular attention to agricultural production and
environmental protection. The study of the health problems tied to the use of
plant protection products cannot leave out of consideration
an in-depth knowledge of the reality of the territory
and of the possible evolutions. The most important factors are tied to the typology
and to the extent of the crops, to the type and to the
quantity of active substances used and to the organization
of the work on the farms. The introduction on the market of new molecules, together
with the introduction of standards aimed at the development
of ecocompatible agriculture, make the plant protection
product sector one that is continuously changing.
The search for information is tied to the availability
of numerous sources, often incomplete and, therefore,
it is particularly difficult to reach definitive conclusions,
thus this type of study should assume the value of a
work in progress. The study of the diffusion of the
crops and of their distribution over the territory should
facilitate a forecast of the consumption of plant protection
products; in order to evaluate the accuracy of the estimation
method, the comparison with the consumption data recorded
in typical areas would be necessary. Table 3.1 – Farms, total area and
area used, years 1990 and 2000*
*source
ISTAT (Central Institute of Statistics), data from General
Agriculture Census IV and V Table
3.2 – Allocation of the farm surface areas years 1990
and 2000*
*
source ISTAT (Central Institute of Statistics), data
from General Agriculture Census IV and V These data were integrated during more detailed investigations
such as the territorial coordination project and the
provincial wine project 2001-2003.
The territorial coordination project provides
for the grouping in classes of the main agricultural
uses of the territory and the relative georeferencing;
a land use map was produced starting from these data.
The legend was modified to highlight the agricultural
systems to which a different level of environmental
risk is connected, based on the system foreseen by the
CORINE model (Figure 1).
Besides the urban areas, the forests and a grouping
of extra-agricultural zones collectively called “other
areas”, the following agricultural typologies were highlighted:
sowables, pastures and olive groves; the vineyards and
orchards were grouped in a single category.
3.3
Sales data
The Italian distribution system includes merchants,
provincial farmers’ cooperatives and cooperatives. In order to identify the problems
on a local scale, one possible approach foresees the
study of the sales data, from which to obtain with sufficient
approximation the loads potentially distributed over
the territory. The
surveys relative to the commerce of plant protection
products over the entire national territory are made
available from several sources. The SIAN, national agricultural
information system, which is under the Ministry of Agricultural
and Forestry policies (MiPA), supplies data relative
to the commerce of plant protection products and fertilizers.
The data are obtained and processed at the individual
province level, subdivided by active principle.
The system takes advantage of the collaboration
of the Phytopathology Institute of Rome for the organization
and updating of a data bank relative to the products
used on the national territory. The ISTAT surveys start from the subdivision
of plant protection products into categories, based
on their effects (fungicides, insecticides, mite killers
and herbicides) and by families (ex. inorganic, organic
nitrogen, carbamates, phosphororganic). Another data detection system is
that of AGROFARMA (National Association of Plant Protection
Product Businesses), an association of the sector that
is part of Federchimica (National Federation of the
Chemical Industry), which represents the Plant Protection
Product sector businesses.
The registrations are carried out at a national
level; the products are subdivided into four families:
fungicides, herbicides, insecticides-mite killers and
fumigants-nematocides. The results presented at the general
2000 meeting of Agrofarma, in agreement with those produced
by the “plant protection products” study group under
ANPA, ARPA and APPA (respectively: National Agency for
the Environment, Regional Agency for the Environment,
Provincial Agency for the Environment) highlighted a
general decrease in consumption at the national level.
This data can be interpreted by pointing out
a reduction of the intensification of cultivation practices,
tied both to the application of the European Community
Directives and to the increase in biological farms. On the other hand, the recent introduction of
active principles, for which extremely reduced use dosages
are foreseen, supplies another key for interpretation
of the phenomenon. The study on the
commercialisation of plant protection products at the
national level promoted by the ANPA-ARPA-APPA Plant
Protection Products Working Group took its moves from
the SIAN data relative to sales; the products were catalogued
based on the registration number, product name and quantity
used. In order to select the substances of greatest
interest, a risk score was realized based on the characteristics
of the molecule and on the type of distribution.
Furthermore, the evaluation of the effects on
man by direct route (exposure during treatment, acute
and chronic toxicity, bioaccumulation) and by indirect
route, through food and water, were kept in mind. The results, extended
to the entire national territory, constitute an interesting
basis of study even though they do not allow identifying
risk situations over the territory. The study on the
consumptions relative to the Province of Livorno was
based on the SIAN data of the three-year period 1997-1998
gathered by the Regional Phytopathological Service of
the Region of Tuscany. The available material presented a series of problems. In fact, the consumptions relative to each preparation are given in weight (for the product sold in powder form) or in volume (for the products sold in solution). Furthermore, the quantities sold refer to the commercial products containing the active principle; therefore, it is not necessary to know the actual concentration of the molecule. In order to make the elaboration possible, it was necessary to use some simplifications; the quantities sold were added without taking into account the density of the products. It was then hypothesized that the substances sold in the province were used in the same territorial sphere.
Figures
3.2 and 3.3 – The plant protection product market in
the province of Livorno.
Elaboration of the data of the three-year period
1997-1999. Data
source: Regional Observatory of Plant Diseases. Table 3.3 – Plant Protection Products Market in the Province of Livorno,
the twenty most sold active principles
This classification offers interesting cues for setting
up control plans aimed at the territorial realities. The objective difficulty in extending the analysis
of the residuals to a high number of active principles
suggests, in fact, the need to carry out specific analyses. The high consumption of products of high quantitative
incidence like sulphur and copper destined preferentially
to grapevines and to vegetable crops in general, whose
sales volume corresponds to 19% of the total sales,
corresponds to the typical Mediterranean agriculture
picture. As far as the other product categories are concerned,
the high consumption of methyl bromide, whose ascertained
toxicity has led to the adoption of restrictive measures
while awaiting the total prohibition of use, is worrisome. 3.4 Organization of the work within the farms The type of organization of the farms plays an important
role; depending on the size of the farm and on the number
of employees, several work-planning models are configured.
We go from situations in which the burden of
the treatments is reserved to part of the personnel
and others in which it is divided up among different
subjects. The
typology of the Livornese farms, whose average size
is not much larger than 20 ha of surface area used,
with an average of 8.8 ha of surface area used per work
unit, leaves us to presume that the second model is
the most widespread. The study relative to the farms of the northernmost
cities of the province (Livorno and Collesalvetti) highlighted
the elevated diffusion of farms with a reduced number
of employees. A single employee was declared for 30% of the
farms and the percentage rises to 66% if we collectively
consider the farms with fewer than two employees. Control
in regard to sales and use of plant protection products The DM (Minister’s Decree) of 20
July 1987 constitutes an attempt to make the market
and the application of plant protection products visible.
It contains indications relative to the establishment
of the country register and to the chemical products
purchase form, with the double purpose of making farmers
more aware of the problems related to the use of pesticides
and of activating a registration system on a territorial
scale. The application of this
control system was postponed by subsequent ministerial
ordinances; a similar registration system was activated
with EEC regulation 2078/92, limited to the farms that
adopted it. The
Regional Pluriannual Implementation Program of the region
of Tuscany provides for the rationalization of the use
of chemical products, especially of fertilizers and
plant protection products. DPR (Decree by the President
of the Republic) 290/2001 has recently recovered the
principle of registration extended to all farms, establishing
the treatment register. This is a registration and control system that
is must less complex than the country register, which
imposes the keeping of a register of the treatments
carried out, with indications relative to the crops
concerned, to the dates of the main operations of cultivation
technique and to the phenologic phases of the crop. The supervision
system In the absence of treatment registration
apparatus, the present health and environmental supervision
system is tied to control structures that operate downstream,
on the health of workers and on the presence of residuals,
both in the different environmental sectors and in the
food sectors. The supervision system must be closely
tied to the territorial reality; in fact, the products
used differ from area to area depending on the crops
present, on the protection techniques and on the commercial
distribution network.
The decrees aimed at limiting the use of some
active principles on some crops contribute to complicating
the picture (DM 22.1.98 “Maximum limits of residuals
of active substances of plant protection products allowed
in products destined for foodstuffs”). The planning of the controls must
be carefully looked after, beginning from the sector
of interest and from the selection of the potentially
used active substances and of their main metabolites. The direct control on man should place biological
monitoring, presently little applied because of the
high costs and operational difficulties, side by side
with the objective examination. In order to get a more complete picture, it would
be necessary to carry out indirect controls on the environment
and on the operator’s work clothing. Health control The registration of new molecules foresees
a long and complex experimentation procedure, aimed
at evaluating their toxic effects, based above all on
experiments carried out on laboratory animals (Law 194/95).
The products’ toxicity level is in fact related
to experiments carried out generally on rats; the results
show the lethal amounts through the skin, orally and
through inhalation. The main criticisms made against this system
point out the different behaviour of organisms of distinct
species with respect to contact with xenobiotic substances.
This methodology does not allow showing the long-term
harmful effects, which are difficult to measure in the
laboratory; furthermore, the possible synergistic effects
tied to the use of several substances are often overlooked.
It should be recalled that the exposure of the
operator in the field can be very different than that
theorized during the product registration phase. In fact, the effects on human health of some
molecules are still little known; experimental evidence
has verified the toxic effects of the metabolites of
substances that are harmless by themselves or whose
toxicity is limited.
The present systems of control of workers are
capable of highlighting acute poisonings, while it is
more difficult to evaluate the long-term effects and
especially the cancerogenous properties. Consulting the works of different authors, it is possible
to find discordant results with regard to the persistence
of the active principles.
Sometimes quite different results are noted;
the application of these values to simulation models
can lead to conclusions that are very different from
each other. The main problems encountered in
the sphere of epidemiological studies are ascribable
to the difficulty in identifying the chronically exposed
subjects and to the need to estimate the cumulative
effects of the numerous active principles that the workers
use during their working life.
Epidemiological studies are often inadequate
to verify the association between exposure and disease. Occupational diseases
The occupational diseases connected to the use of
plant protection products have the liver, the respiratory
tract and the skin as the main target organs.
The control can be carried out directly and indirectly
and can also concern individual molecules or groups
of similar molecules, both as such and as regards their
metabolites. The statistics produced by INAIL (National Institute
for Insurance against Industrial Injuries) sometimes
furnish data that are difficult to interpret.
The data relative to occupational diseases in
the agricultural sphere recorded in the five-year period
1997-2001 indicate a total number of pathologies that
is still lower than 1000 and highlight a significant
decrease in the last year of the study (Table 4). Table 3.4 – Occupational diseases in agriculture, data for the five-year
period 1997-2001
Much space is reserved for the occupational diseases
tied to the use of chemical products, quite 72% of the
possible pathologies foreseen.
The results relative to the five-year period
1997-2001 highlight in any case a very reduced number
of reports that are certainly attributable to chronic
poisonings. Figure 3.4 – Occupational diseases in agriculture, data relative
to the five-year period 1997-2001
The experiment
carried out up to this point has already suggested some
integrations for the model, which should arrive at containing
further information in the database, both in order to
keep better account of the multifactorial diseases (for
example, the presence of risk factors outside of work)
and for the codification of possible confusion factors
(cigarette smoke, physiological conditions present at
the same time, etc.).
The different pathologies have been traced back
to 33 main categories, but no confirmation has been
found for any of them due to agricultural activity operations. Industrial
injuries
The present system includes under the same code the
accidents that take place in agriculture, in the food
industry and in activities similar to agriculture.
The statistics also take into account all of
the accidents tied to the use of plant protection products
outside of the sphere of agriculture (disinfestation
of facilities and warehouses).
The information sources come from the occupational
medicine service of the competent USL centres (Local
Health Centres); they can also be supplemented with the first aid reports of the hospitals
that fall within the area of interest and possibly of
the State Police. The
number of reports is generally very low; as an example,
we can cite the 8 and the 13 accidents reported respectively
in 2001 and in the first nine months of 2002 to the
Livorno area USL. This
data includes all of the accidents that occurred in
the agricultural sector. In the absence of reports,
which are extremely rare or even nonexistent, the USL
centres present in the province of Livorno carried out
investigations on a sample basis. Environmental
control
The study of the effect of plant protection products
on the environment is essential both for the registration
of new active substances and for the evaluation of the
long-term effects in defined ecosystems.
The research in this sector is relatively recent.
The introduction of analytical instruments capable
of determining quantities lower than micrograms (gas
chromatography, gas-mass) has overturned the previous
convictions, according to which the microbe community
in the soil was able to completely degrade the molecules
of xenobiotic substances.
The presence of plant protection products was
recently included in the list of soil quality indicators,
also because it constitutes a groundwater risk factor.
The operation of small farming activities was
recognized as a main source of pollution of shallow
or deep waters, stimulating the interest of the European
Union, which defined the maximum residual limits for
shallow waters (Directive 80/68) and for deep waters
(Directive 75/440).
At the local level, the Tuscan ARPAT laboratories
activated a control system beginning from the second
half of the ‘80’s, when the finding of high quantities
of Atrazine in the waters determined one of the first
Italian environmental emergencies.
The sampling plans, aimed at identifying the
weight of these pollutants, considered widespread sources
of contamination, took account of the use of the soil
and of the associated agricultural practices, of the
presence of groundwater and of the chemical characteristics
of the molecules. Given the variety of molecules present on the market
and the influence of numerous variables such as climate,
morphology, soil science, physical-chemical-biological
characteristics and cultivation system, it is especially
difficult to carry out efficient monitoring at reasonable
costs. The search for residuals must be directed in the various
environmental sectors; the volatility of numerous molecules
suggests extending the controls to water, air and soil
even in areas that are distant from the area of use. The extreme vulnerability of water resources has directed
the search for residuals in the water sector; the updating
of analytical techniques and of the normative control
pictures has also allowed highlighting groundwater pollution. It is believed that the methods presently in use are
capable of singling out only a percentage (25%) of the
known molecules. The analysis system prepared by ARPAT of Livorno
allows identifying 85 different active principles. The
control of foodstuffs The Ministry of Health coordinates
the control and supervision activity for the purpose
of protecting public health.
The USL centres and the ARPATs are involved in
the control of foods of vegetable origin, the experimental
zooprophylactic institutes instead deal with foods of
animal origin. The decree of 23 December 1992 establishes the
minimum number of controls that must be carried out
annually by the Regional Public Health Services.
The Ministry of Health will directly take care
of processing of the results. The latest pluriannual plan for supervision
and control of foods and beverages is contained in the
Regional Deliberation relative to the three-year period
2001-2003 of 22 January 2001 (Table 5). Table 3.5 – System of supervision
on foods established by Deliberation 46 of the Region
of Tuscany (22 January 2002).
Minimum number of samples to be subjected to
control for the Province of Livorno
The sampling system should guarantee
the maximum representativeness of the samples; for this
purpose it is appropriate to select the sites and periods
for taking the samples. The choice of the matrices to be analysed should
be based on warning reports and on considerations of
hygienic-sanitary interest, keeping in mind the characteristic
crops of each territorial sphere. The National Plan for the Integrated
Phytopathological Fight of 1992 foresees the establishment
of a national network for monitoring residuals in fruit
and vegetable products and in agroalimentary products.
Other official structures play an active part
on the subject of the control of foodstuffs.
The Central Department for the Repression of
Fraud (ICRF of the MiPA) is an institution in charge
of the prevention of infractions in the preparation
and trade of agroalimentary products.
The SIAN (National Agricultural Information System)
carries out a wide support action in the processing
of the data and of the information produced by the ICRF
in order to protect consumers.
The Office for the Prevention of the Adulteration
of Beverages and Foodstuffs of the Carabinieri Service
(NAS) carry out a prevention and repression activity
on food fraud, verifying compliance with national and
community regulations. On the industrial front, Agrofarma is active;
in fact, in 1996, the National Observatory on Residuals
of Plant Protection Products (ONR) was established with
the objective of integrating the service carried out
by both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agricultural
and Forestry Policies on the subject consumer risk evaluation. In the province of Livorno, a control system capable
of identifying 71 different pesticides on various matrices
was activated. The
data from the past years highlight a very small number
of samples in which residuals were found (Table 6). Table 3.6 – Search for plant protection product residuals,
data relative to the Province of Livorno, two-year period
2000-2001. Source
ARPAT – Provincial Department of Livorno
*
cereals, wine, oil, preserves The data shown in the table highlight
the scarcity of samples with residuals greater than
the legal limits, still less than 1% of the samples
tested (0.43% for 2000 and 0.086% for 2001).
The samples that were totally free from residuals
represent 81% and 84% of the samples tested, respectively,
for 2000 and 2001. These
results could be interpreted as direct consequences
of the reduction in the use of plant protection products
or of improved compliance with the amounts and systems
of use. On the other hand, such a discouraging result
could be caused by the impossibility of carrying out
specific tests due to the introduction of new molecules
or to the lack of specific data relative to the sample. Regarding the type of control, it
is interesting to note that the molecules detected in
the samples are not found on the list of the plant protection
products sold most in the provincial territory.
The control carried out at the moment of sale
imposes the use of tests of the “multiresidual” type
able to highlight a vast number of substances.
In fact, at the moment of distribution, it is
impossible to know the agronomic history of the crop
and, with this, the type of contamination risk of the
foodstuffs.
3.6
Research on the subject
of safety and health
Research on the subject of the toxicity of parasiticides
is carried out by various universities, by some Italian
USL centres and by Study Centres of the CNR (National
Research Council). Furthermore, the International Centre for Parasiticides
and Health Prevention, with office in Busto Garolfo
(Milano), was recently established.
The main activities concern information and documentation
on the toxicity of parasiticides for man and for the
environment and epidemiological, toxicological and clinical
research on the effects of parasiticides on man. Studies relative to occupational
exposure in agricultural environments have highlighted
the problems of cutaneous contamination, often prevalent
with respect to contamination through inhalation.
For this purpose, maps of the cutaneous absorption
of different active principles have been prepared, which
have given interesting indications. Studies conducted in the laboratory have allowed
quantifying the epidermic accumulation, though highlighting
the difficulty of correlating the data obtained from
in vitro experiments with real data. In regard to human health,
the study of new indicators should allow evaluating
as best as possible the effects of exposure where the
application of the traditional indicators, prepared
for other sectors, has not had the expected results,
given the poor sensitivity and specificity.
Recent research projects have highlighted the
effectiveness of the macromolecular adducts and of the
indicators of immune system functionality, capable of
highlighting the effects of prolonged exposures. Experiments carried out
in the greenhouse have led to the development of methods
for the determination of residuals on work clothing,
evaluating the level of exposure tied to the realization
of the different cultivation practices. Full field experiments have highlighted
the importance of setting up suitable sampling plans
that take into account the preferential penetration
routes of pesticides. The results of experimental projects carried
out on farm workers during cultivation operations have
been given in the literature.
For the purpose of verifying the areas of greatest
contact with the distributed pesticides, operators were
equipped with special cotton pads for dermatic monitoring
and devices for monitoring volatile substances (ex.
filters to apply to the mask). The cotton pads were analysed at the end of
the treatment. At
the same time, the biological monitoring and the testing
of the residuals on the treated crops were carried out. Several study projects on plant protection products have been activated
in the past years; we cite two of them as an example.
The Special Project. Prevention in the use of parasiticides in agriculture Underway in the Region of Lombardy, it foresees the realization
of the following actions:
·
verification of the interventions in progress
on farms relative to the risks from parasiticides
·
gathering of the data relative to parasiticide
sales
·
execution of studies on exposure to parasiticides
·
use of new indicators for biological monitoring
of exposure
·
epidemiological supervision of acute poisonings
from plant protection products
·
identification of vulnerable areas for
percolation The basic objectives of the project are:
·
the monitoring of the application of Law
626/94
·
the construction of the sample of farms
for subsequent investigations
·
the putting into effect of the use control
plan The Project of the Region of Liguria
The Region of Liguria has adopted
a regional plan of official control relative to the
trade and use of plant protection products and of control
of residuals of plant protection products in foodstuffs
for the years 2000-2001.
The plan was prepared in compliance with Directive
91/414/CE, which is based on the planning of the control
activities on trade and use and promotes the exchange
of information between European Union member states. An interdisciplinary working group
was established; from the point of view of the practical
realization of collective prevention, representatives
of several agencies were involved:
·
Regional Department of Agriculture
·
Regional Health Department
·
Department of Agricultural Functions
·
Departments of Prevention of the AA.SS.LL
·
Department of Fraud Repression
·
Health Service Carabinieri, N.A.S. of
Genova,
·
Public and Veterinary Hygiene Service
of the Region of Liguria. Control relative to trade
and use was entrusted to the Departments of Prevention
of the AA.SS.LL.s. The
periodicity of the inspections of warehouses and of
sales practices was established. Controls in the field are foreseen during and after
use to verify compliance with the instructions given
on the label; after use for verification of the reentry
times and of the safety interval. The AA.SS.LL.s must identify the species cultivated
on the largest area and concentrate the controls on
these. The periodic controls concern both the general state
of health of the users and the compliance with the current
laws regarding temporary licence and the suitability
of the personal protection means. At the farm level, verification of the suitability
of the machines and of the rooms destined for storing
phytosanitary products is foreseen.
Furthermore, the disposal of waste, of residuals
and of the products for transformation of the phytosanitary
products is also controlled.
Monitoring of the various environmental matrices (water,
air, soil) is foreseen in order to verify the presence
of phytosanitary product residuals. 3.8 Productive systems and development directions
of the territory
Observation
of the main productive principles and of the technical
service directions should allow foreseeing the developments
relative to the use of plant protection products on
a local scale. Viticulture The Livornese viticulture sector is supported with
economic subsidies and tax relief for entrepreneurs
both because of its function as a presidium of the territory
and because of the Italian and foreign market demand.
The export of Tuscan wine represents 16% of the
national one in value and 7% in quantity. From the environmental point of view, it is
believed that the agronomic interventions of care and
maintenance of the vineyard help contain hydrogeologic
degradation, improving rural areas that are presently
marginal. The
cultivation conversion is foreseen above all in the
three provincial Controlled Denomination of Origin (DOC)
areas: Bolgheri, Val di Cornia and Elba, with a view
towards improvement in the productions.
Comparison of the data of 1990 with those of
2000 already highlights a consistent increase in surface
area in the three zones. Table 3.7 – Surface area planted in grapes in the
DOC areas of the Province of Livorno (ha)
*datum
1986 of development foreseen by **maximum
surface area according to the 2001-2003provincial wine-growing
plan The Agrofarma statistics estimate
that 100% of Italian vineyards uses phytosanitary products. Given the still limited diffusion of biological
viticulture, we assume that the increases in the surface
area destined for growing grapevines will determine
a parallel increase in the use of chemical products,
especially copper and sulphur based fungicides, moreover
already included among the twenty most sold products
in the province (Table 3). Vegetable growing
The production of full field vegetable crops is concentrated
in the south of the province.
Some crops are widespread and guarantee a high
% of the entire regional product, 37.7%, 31.7% and 80%,
respectively, for tomato, spinach and artichoke, during
the three-year period 1995-1997.
Biological production represents a growing but
still marginal reality. Even though a future reduction of chemical inputs
tied to the sector is foreseeable, large variations
are not foreseen over the short term.
The surface areas relative to three crops among
the most widespread over the provincial territory are
shown in the table. Table
3.8 – Vegetable growing in the province of Livorno.
Surface areas destined for the main crops
*source:
ISTAT data, **source on INEA and Region of Tuscany IRPET
data, ISTAT data Biological
agriculture The European Community provisions for encouraging
environment compatible farm practices in the sensitive
areas foreseen are creating growing interest in farm
operators in the Province of Livorno, thanks also to
the generalized increase in the demand for biological
products. Table 3.9 – Biological operators in the Province of Livorno,
data updated to 6/30/01
3.9 Phytopathological technical
assistance The indications in regional law 3/8/2001 concerning
agricultural and rural development led to the drawing
up of a Provincial Services Plan.
One of its main objectives is the reduction of
the ecologic imprint, which can be carried out through
the increase in agricultural techniques that have a
low environmental impact.
In regard to vegetable crops, two types of basic
technical assistance are proposed called, respectively,
“high intensity” and “low intensity”. The high intensity phytopathological assistance service
foresees:
·
advice on the alternative defence methods, also in relation
to the research inputs coming from ARSIA (Regional Agency
for Development and Innovation in Agriculture)
The services called “Production line assistance for
the olive and grapevine sectors” and “Technical assistance
relative to particular productive sectors: vegetable-growing,
fruit-growing, plant-growing, floriculture” provide
advice relative to the correct use of plant protection
products. |
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