Pest and disease control are considered as the most greenhouse crop practice with great impact on the environment and human health. At present, Saudi growers need to adopt appropriate Integrated Pest Management programs “IPM” to decrease applications of chemical pesticides and improve fruit quality. During the past 60 years, pest control has been based largely on the use of chemical pesticides. Recently, other more environment-friendly methods have been adopted.
Estidamah’s IPM program incorporates a wide range of practices, including crop rotation, cultural control measures, biosocial control and other alternative techniques. However, one of Estidamah’s strategic objectives is to provide the local market with healthy vegetables, with zero or minimum pesticide applications. This strategy will be accomplished through different techniques, including natural control, biological control and biotechnical control.
To implement a successful biological control program, we are working on introducing new natural enemies that target specific pests, mainly Tuta absoluta, that have been carefully selected and screened to eliminate species that could pose a threat to other useful organisms.