AgroPages-Argentina to carry out "Good Management Practices" for security use of agrochemical-Agricultural news

An initiative called "Good Management Practices Plaza" was presented at Expoagro Argentina 2015, one of the top agricultural fairs in that South American country. It is a facility dedicated to provide guidance for field workers, whether they are applicators, fumigators or even farmers, on the importance of guaranteeing security at the use of agrochemicals.

"The Good Practices Plaza arose from an initiative of several organizations and institutions that have their own programs. What happened was that we gathered one day to question how things are done in the field and which is the most correct way in order to assure the health of those who work in the field and to preserve the natural environment," affirms agronomist Frederico Elorza, a coordinator at the Agricultural Health and Fertilizers Chamber.

"The idea is that each institution that integrates the project tells, according to its specialty, which is the rightest way to do management practices. The chamber was incorporated into this initiative because it has worked for a long time with the responsible use of this products, which is one of the arms of agricultural practices," adds the expert.

The Plaza is made of "stops", or spots with vital items for performance improvement and security in the field: the first incentivizes no-tillage planting for the water and soil preservation, smaller fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The second highlights the importance of crop rotation in terms of area as well as in terms of time.

The third "stop" reinforces the necessity of preserving the soil doing the recommended analysis and planning fertilizer applications. The fourth stop instructs about the correct, efficient and responsible use of phytosanitary products.

"Argentina releases in the market nearly 13,450 tons of hard plastic used for agrochemical packages. Through our existing programs, we collected 4,360 tons, which represents about 35% of the total, something that puts the country in third place in the world in terms of recycling. This is very significant considering that it is not mandatory to use like in other countries, including Brazil," says Elorza.

"The chamber conducts programs to certify warehouse spots, aiming to avoid accidents and losses for the environment nor for the people's health. Other program is called 'Agrolimpio', which fosters the workers' education for the cleanliness, the disenable, and return of used packages for recycling purposes," stated him.

"A third program is for the responsible use of phytosanitary products, including the use of individual protection equipments, how to read labels, how to efficiently apply a product. The fourth initiative is the enable of workers, which covers all other programs instructing workers regarding all the needed caution - and that has benefited over 16,000 people in 2014," explained.