History of IPM-IFP

Integrated Fruit Production (IFP) is a further development of the Integrated Pest Control (IPM) management system. In Western Europe, IFP is in its most advanced state with regards to apples. During the early development of IPM, which can be traced back to the late 50's analytical investigations of the apple ecosystem, studies on the population dynamics of apple pests and diseases, their antagonists, and the side effects of pesticides on beneficials arthropods were carried out with the aim of reducing chemical pesticide treatments and reduction of pesticide risk to a minimum.

The names of Baggiolini (CH), de Fliuter (NL), Milaire (F) and Steiner (D) are inseparably linked with this fundamental work in the 60's. It was the initiative of Hans Steiner to set up an international IOBC/WPRS Working Group on this subject to coordinate the activities in western European countries.

In the early 70's brochures such as "Visual control in apple orchards," "Beneficials in apple orchards" and the "Klopfmethode" were published and became an indispensable aid for IFP-fruit farmers. During this period in Southern Germany offices for IFP-officers were set up to educate and advice apple farmers in IFP. Training courses were offered and in pilot farms IFP systems were successfully compared with orchards managed the conventional way. But from the mid 70's to the late 80's the practical implementation of IFP was not very widespread, less than 2000 ha in Germany where the continuing development of IFP was hindered by the negative attitudes held by the professional associations and the general fruit practice.

In the following years ministries in European countries initiated and funded several programs with the aim of implementing IFP into wider practice. Pilot farms were set up and there the practicability and benefits of IFP could be proven.

In 1989 special committees in 9 European countries devoted themselves to drawing up at least 14 IP guidelines for pome fruit production. One year later the IOBC/WPRS Working Group "Integrated Plant Protection in Orchards" was commissioned to coordinate and harmonize the search of development of regional and national guidelines which have now spread across the whole of Europe. In 1991 the first edition of a European IFP guideline edited by Drs. Dickler and Schäfermeyer was published, followed by a second edition edited by Cross and Dickler 1994.

After the publication of the "Integrated Production Principles and Technical Guidelines" of IOBC/WPRS in 1993 by El-Titi and co-authors in the following years, IP-guidelines were published for viticulture, stone fruits and arable crops. Others, like soft fruits are in preparation.

Current status of IFP in Western Europe

At the international conference on integrated fruit production held at Cedzyna, Poland, in 1995, results of a survey conducted by IOBC/WPRS and the ISHS Joint Group for Integrated Fruit Production were reported. This survey on the status of IFP was carried out by 20 observers in several European countries and showed that IFP and similar quality assurance (QA) schemes were operating in nearly all fruit producing countries in western Europe accounting for approximately 35 % of the total area of pome fruit production of about 322 000 hectares. The area has increased by about 40 % since the last survey conducted by Schäfermeyer in 1991. In 1994, in Western Europe, 31 organizations were following regional or national IFP (QA) guidelines. In recent years many fruit producing areas all over the world have shown increasing interest in producing fruits following IFP systems.

Success within IFP

The greatest success achieved by the strong expansion of IFP are:

• well trained fruit growers
• regular technical inspection of field sprayers
• promotion of beneficial organisms and the use of their regulatory potential
• reduction in use of chemical pesticides
• preferentially selective products, less harmful to the environment
• controlling of fruit farms, farm books
• availability of regional, national and EU-regulation grants

Problems within IFP:

• increase of secondary pests
• change of the dominance structure of main pests
• increasing importance of storage diseases
• pest resistance to selective compounds (IGR's), where used too frequently
• requires higher educated farmers often gives rise to higher costs where not funded, IFP fruit does not command a higher return on investment.

Future work within IFP:

• Reduction of use of chemical pesticides must be continued.
• Research work is needed in the following fields:
• anti-resistance management of major pests and diseases
• further development of forecasting systems
• implementation of non-chemical techniques e.g. mating disruption, attract and kill, codling moth granulosis virus and other biological techniques

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Prof. Dr. Erich Dickler

Address:
Biologische Bundesanstalt
Institut für Pflanzenschutz im Obstbau
Schwabenheimer Straße 101
69221 Dossenheim
Germany

Phone: +49 6221-866238
Fax: +49 6221-861222
E-mail: bba.dossenheim@t-online.de
web page: http://www.bba.de

Prof. Dr. Erich Dickler is the Director of the Institute for Plant Protection in Fruit Crops in Dossenheim, Germany. He is also the President of the Entomological Society of Germany (DGaaE) and a professor at Heidelberg University, Faculty of Biology. He received his PhD in agriciculture from Giessen University, Germany in 1967 and completed a post doctorate at Michigan State University in the Faculty of Entomology from 1967-1968.

In the past he worked as a fruit entomologist, in biological and integrated control of fruit pests and was the convenor of IOBC/WPRS Working Group Integrated Plant Protection in Orchards. He worked as the editor of guidelines for integrated production of pome fruits in Europe, Bull. IOBC/WPRS and was the foreign expert for the development of integrated fruit production in Poland. Since 1997 foreign expert for the development of integrated fruit production in Chile. He also presents lectures on this subject in several countries, such as China, Canada and the United States.

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