commercial productions of this predatory bugs. Increases of cannibalism when
rearing high populations using suboptimal diets may be one of the reasons. Another
reason may be that commercial populations are developed up to the maximum
carrying capacity, and introduction of suboptimal diets may stress the populations.
4.6 Conclusions
Currently, the global surface area under IPM is very limited but the possibility to
develop and adopt it in a more broad scale is facing the best chances it never had.
Two drastic changes in this direction in Europe, the current shift in attitude of
politicians regarding the need to reduce chemical applications and increase the
non-chemical alternative methods, as it is clearly stated in the EU Directive 2009/
128/EC, and the often demand of products with a limit level of residues far below
the legal ones, nationally or internationally regulated, by the supermarket chains.
A good example of transition towards a more sustainable system, after failure of
chemicals to control the pests and a strong market pressure to eliminate the residues, is the greenhouse vegetal production in the southeast of Spain. At present,
almost 100 % of the two major protected crops in this area, tomato and peppers,
are cultivated under IPM.
This achievement would have not been possible in the Spanish greenhouses
without years of research to provide with appropriate natural enemies and efficient
biocontrol programs. Biomanufacturer companies of natural enemies, despite
being most of them small and medium companies without a strong R&D, have also
participated in the successful implementation. Some of them have collaborated
with the research institutions to select the needed species and to fine settle the IPM
programs, but more significantly, they have developed the industrial mass rearing
of these beneficials and improved the suitable releasing systems, as well as provided the needed quantities at the right time.
One of the major recent improvements on mass rearing techniques has been
reached with the predatory mites, which as a result have become an essential
element of augmentative programs on vegetables. Combinations of astigmatid
mites as factitious preys to rear predatory species of the Phytoseiidae, using carrying materials in climatically controlled rooms, has made possible to increase the
affordable quantities released per area of the largest five produced species. This has
contributed to guarantee a satisfactory control of pests like whiteflies, thrips, spider
mites and broad mites, not only in the Spanish but also other worldwide greenhouses. The application of fast frozen food technologies to provide dead astigmatid
populations to predatory mites is a further promising development that have shown
possibilities to rear difficult predator candidates, especially autochthonous species,
that have not been able to be commercially produced until present. A further
development to introduce predatory mites has been the formulation of sachets á la
carte, with a quick or controlled release system. For instance, 5 years ago the
producers were delivering sachets of A. swirskii that were able to release up to 800
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E. Vila and T. Cabello
rearing high populations using suboptimal diets may be one of the reasons. Another
reason may be that commercial populations are developed up to the maximum
carrying capacity, and introduction of suboptimal diets may stress the populations.
4.6 Conclusions
Currently, the global surface area under IPM is very limited but the possibility to
develop and adopt it in a more broad scale is facing the best chances it never had.
Two drastic changes in this direction in Europe, the current shift in attitude of
politicians regarding the need to reduce chemical applications and increase the
non-chemical alternative methods, as it is clearly stated in the EU Directive 2009/
128/EC, and the often demand of products with a limit level of residues far below
the legal ones, nationally or internationally regulated, by the supermarket chains.
A good example of transition towards a more sustainable system, after failure of
chemicals to control the pests and a strong market pressure to eliminate the residues, is the greenhouse vegetal production in the southeast of Spain. At present,
almost 100 % of the two major protected crops in this area, tomato and peppers,
are cultivated under IPM.
This achievement would have not been possible in the Spanish greenhouses
without years of research to provide with appropriate natural enemies and efficient
biocontrol programs. Biomanufacturer companies of natural enemies, despite
being most of them small and medium companies without a strong R&D, have also
participated in the successful implementation. Some of them have collaborated
with the research institutions to select the needed species and to fine settle the IPM
programs, but more significantly, they have developed the industrial mass rearing
of these beneficials and improved the suitable releasing systems, as well as provided the needed quantities at the right time.
One of the major recent improvements on mass rearing techniques has been
reached with the predatory mites, which as a result have become an essential
element of augmentative programs on vegetables. Combinations of astigmatid
mites as factitious preys to rear predatory species of the Phytoseiidae, using carrying materials in climatically controlled rooms, has made possible to increase the
affordable quantities released per area of the largest five produced species. This has
contributed to guarantee a satisfactory control of pests like whiteflies, thrips, spider
mites and broad mites, not only in the Spanish but also other worldwide greenhouses. The application of fast frozen food technologies to provide dead astigmatid
populations to predatory mites is a further promising development that have shown
possibilities to rear difficult predator candidates, especially autochthonous species,
that have not been able to be commercially produced until present. A further
development to introduce predatory mites has been the formulation of sachets á la
carte, with a quick or controlled release system. For instance, 5 years ago the
producers were delivering sachets of A. swirskii that were able to release up to 800
122
E. Vila and T. Cabello