Integrated Fruit Production—Enhancing Production, Quality, and Safety of Fruit Production and Packing of Mango in Brazil as a Model

Abstract

The development and implementation of ecosystem-based technologies in plant protection have been important objectives of the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC) since its foundation in 1956. Integrated Production/Integrated Farming is a system that produces high quality and safe food and other products by using natural resources and regulating mechanisms to replace polluting inputs and to secure sustainable farming. The objectives and principles of Integrated Production (IP) are based in a holistic view of the system, combining strategies such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), safety, fertilization, and agronomic measures to enhance their effectiveness. It relies on ecosystem regulation, food safety, the importance of animal welfare, and on the preservation of natural resources. The expansion of the mango growing area in Brazil depends on the generation and adaptation of production technologies, as well as on consumer market tendencies that currently require better quality fruit. Brazil needs to adjust itself to agricultural production systems like Fruit Integrated Production (FIP) that has the objective of economically producing high quality fruit obtained by ecologically safer methods, which minimizes the collateral undesirable effects of the use of pesticides, increasing environmental protection and improving human health. The FIP System in the São Francisco River Valley began in 2000, with the elaboration of an environmental diagnosis of the region followed by the monitoring of insects and diseases, training of technicians and farmers, study of the production chain, and elaboration of databases and procedures for integrated mango production. Today, the program counts on the participation of 287 mango producer farms, amounting to a monitored area of 8,780 ha. This program is based on the integration of scientists, farmers, consultants, and extension people, both from public and private institutions. Research studies are being carried out in order to generate and diffuse new technologies, products, and services that can be adapted to the situation of the Brazilian mango farmers.