efforts, the organic agriculture needs much more attention to be fully established
(Soltani et al. 2014). The area under organic cultivation in Iran was 0.02% of the
total cultivable land in 2014 (Willer and Lernoud 2016) which was not a satisfactory
share.
As mentioned above, while most of the applied biological agents of the country
were predators or parasitoids, a little share was also allocated to microbial agents.
However, the market share of microbial biopesticides shows a more or less steady
increase during recent years especially for the soil dwelling and greenhouse pests.
14.3 Microbial Biopesticides Opportunities in Iran
Biological control of pests, especially those done with microbial agents, has not
achieved its proper role in IPM programs in Iran. Biocontrol has now been used
sporadically throughout the country but it is not considered as a constant or important part of IPM. However, the increasing pressure of society has enforced a change
in the viewpoint of policy makers about the procedure of IPM. For example, an
office named “Environment and Food Safety Office” has been established in Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad in 2002. The office is responsible for making policies,
planning and supervision toward sustainable agriculture and preserving the environment. Several workgroups (such as Development of Organic Farming, Biosafety,
Control and Certification of Agricultural Products, and Green Management Program) have been formed to achieve those goals. The activity of the office has
increased several folds in the recent years in response to society’s demand for
safer foodstuff.
One of the good measures taken by the Environment and Food Safety Office,
Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad has been to provide a guideline named “Practical
Instruction for Producing Certified and Standard Products”. It emphasizes on the
procedures of producing agricultural products with minimal hazardous chemical
residues. The task of supervision on production process is delegated to Plant
Protection Clinics. The required samples will be taken from the products by trustful
inspection companies and will be examined by reference laboratories. The product
will be certified only if the residues of 105 chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides),
nitrate and heavy metals would be below the allowed limit, known as “maximum
residue limits (MRLs)”. Plant Protection Clinics have the authority to allocate a
16-digit detectable barcode to each product that could pass the process of certification. The first 8 digits represent the province, town, district and village where the
farm is located. The next two digits belong to plant protection clinic that supervises
the farm. The digits 11 to 13 are allocated to the crop and digits 14 to 16 designate
the particulars of the grower that owns the product (the last three digits of grower
national code or three last digits of exploitation license of the production unit).
Therefore, it is possible to detect the origin of each product by the 16-digit code. A
high council consisting of provincial representatives of Ministry of AgricultureJahad, Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Iran National Standards
538
M. R. Moosavi and V. Minassian
(Soltani et al. 2014). The area under organic cultivation in Iran was 0.02% of the
total cultivable land in 2014 (Willer and Lernoud 2016) which was not a satisfactory
share.
As mentioned above, while most of the applied biological agents of the country
were predators or parasitoids, a little share was also allocated to microbial agents.
However, the market share of microbial biopesticides shows a more or less steady
increase during recent years especially for the soil dwelling and greenhouse pests.
14.3 Microbial Biopesticides Opportunities in Iran
Biological control of pests, especially those done with microbial agents, has not
achieved its proper role in IPM programs in Iran. Biocontrol has now been used
sporadically throughout the country but it is not considered as a constant or important part of IPM. However, the increasing pressure of society has enforced a change
in the viewpoint of policy makers about the procedure of IPM. For example, an
office named “Environment and Food Safety Office” has been established in Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad in 2002. The office is responsible for making policies,
planning and supervision toward sustainable agriculture and preserving the environment. Several workgroups (such as Development of Organic Farming, Biosafety,
Control and Certification of Agricultural Products, and Green Management Program) have been formed to achieve those goals. The activity of the office has
increased several folds in the recent years in response to society’s demand for
safer foodstuff.
One of the good measures taken by the Environment and Food Safety Office,
Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad has been to provide a guideline named “Practical
Instruction for Producing Certified and Standard Products”. It emphasizes on the
procedures of producing agricultural products with minimal hazardous chemical
residues. The task of supervision on production process is delegated to Plant
Protection Clinics. The required samples will be taken from the products by trustful
inspection companies and will be examined by reference laboratories. The product
will be certified only if the residues of 105 chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides),
nitrate and heavy metals would be below the allowed limit, known as “maximum
residue limits (MRLs)”. Plant Protection Clinics have the authority to allocate a
16-digit detectable barcode to each product that could pass the process of certification. The first 8 digits represent the province, town, district and village where the
farm is located. The next two digits belong to plant protection clinic that supervises
the farm. The digits 11 to 13 are allocated to the crop and digits 14 to 16 designate
the particulars of the grower that owns the product (the last three digits of grower
national code or three last digits of exploitation license of the production unit).
Therefore, it is possible to detect the origin of each product by the 16-digit code. A
high council consisting of provincial representatives of Ministry of AgricultureJahad, Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Iran National Standards
538
M. R. Moosavi and V. Minassian