Chile's Agriculture Ministry launches plan to reduce use of agrochemicals

Through a new plant health program, the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile seeks a greater efficiency on the use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides on food production. The national director of the National Institution of Agricultural Research of Chile (INIA), Júlio Kalazich, announced that the new program has the goal of reducing the use of these agrochemical at the fields.

"Due to the importance of this issue at the development of the sector, we have decided to create a new National Plant Health Program, which will be headed by the agronomist and INIA researcher, Carlos Quiroz,” informed Kalazich.

According to INIA's national director, plant health was part of the National Environment and Sustainability program, but due to the current and future importance of the subject, it was necessary to separate the program. The goal of the National Plant Health Program now is to produce knowledge based on quality scientific investigation and contribute to the reduction of the use of agrochemicals and sustainability of the agricultural systems.

INIA is the major agricultural research institution in Chile and it is the top generator of plant varieties such as wheat, rice, potatoes, produce and fruits that are adapted to Chile's weather and soils.