CABI Blog

CABI’s centre in Pakistan, along with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the financial assistance of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is currently involved in implementation of a program ‘Regulatory Harmonization in Pakistan for MRLs and Biopesticides’ with the objective to detect and prioritize high-risk pesticides related to increased Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in chilies.

This project will help to harmonize science based-international standards to develop MRL data and to boost Pakistan’s registration process for biopesticides as alternate to high-risk pesticides. One of the key objectives of the program is to improve the ability of national stakeholders from Pakistan and to advocate for science-based polices in international for a partner by solidifying the biopesticide registration process.

Since the use of biopesticides at commercial level is a new concept in Pakistan, for the better understanding of our national stakeholders CABI’s centre in Pakistan, organized a virtual training workshop entitled ‘Biopesticides and their Future Prospective for Pakistan.’ The training workshop was aimed at policymakers, academia, crop scientists, and for National Plat Protection Organizations (NPPO).

To share their global experience, Mr Luis Suguiyama, International Regulatory Expert, and Dr Kevin Rice, from the Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, acted as international subject expert trainers for the workshop.

Mr Luis Suguiyama delivered a session to the participants sharing his global experience related to the general overview of biopesticides and associated regulatory aspects for the registration of biopesticides. Furthermore, Mr Suguiyama also emphasized to national stakeholders to prioritize regulatory capacity building issues which are required to implement regulations in the current Pakistani system.

Dr Kevin Rice shared the adoptability of biopesticides by illustrating whiteflies as a reference model. He explained the biology and ecology of white flies, overview and abiotic factors associated with population and white fly density, species of whiteflies in Pakistan, signs of damage/injury and scouting, brief overview of conventional control options. Moreover, as an alternate to conventional control options, the participants were briefed about the cultural control and potential control of whitefly through the use of biopesticides. Dr Rice also addressed the queries of participants regarding the quality standards of biopesticides and their evaluation.

In his concluding remarks Dr Jason Sandahl, from Ag Aligned Global, talked on the current global trends and mentioned that most of the conventional chemical pesticides are being gradually phased out from the export markets due to pesticide residue concerns. Farmers are restricted to market their products in the local market which potentially has a drastic effect on their profit margins.

The Pakistan project team, along with the team of international experts are exploring the use of biopesticides to minimize pesticide MRL concerns which will help the farming communities to bring their produce in line with international regulatory standards.

Additional Information

Main image: A botanical spray being applied to a cotton crop in Pakistan (Credit: CABI).

Watch the Virtual Training Workshop

The recording of the ‘Biopesticides and their Future Prospective for Pakistan’ training workshop is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr93CvzDb7g  

Mitigating Pesticide Residue Limits on Red Chillies in Pakistan

Find out more about CABI’s work on Regulatory Harmonization in Pakistan for MRLs and Biopesticides from the project page ‘Mitigating pesticide residue limits on red chillies in Pakistan.’

Authors:

Dr Babar E. Bajwa – Project Executive

Dr Sabyan Faris Honey – Project Manager

Contributors:
Dr Hamzah Shahbaz Bhatti – Program Officer

Saqib Ali – Communication Officer

For more information, please contact:

Deborah Hamilton
USDA
202-720-0335
Deborah.Hamilton2@usda.gov