The amount of greenhouse-produce vegetables produced using biological control systems instead of pesticides in Andalusia now totals more than half of all covered fresh produce production in the Spanish region, covering more than 25,000ha.
Some 56 per cent of southern Spain's major greenhouse products – namely peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, green beans, melons and watermelons – are now produced using natural predators, pheromone traps and other biological pest control systems instead of conventional sprays.
In total, Andalusian fresh produce association Hortyfruta, which compiled the figures, said 25,613ha now use biological systems out of the total 45,428ha under production in the region.
The two products with the greatest increase in usage of biological systems have been tomatoes and cucumbers, with uptake in the former rising from 33 per cent last season to 50 per cent for the 2011/12 campaign, and usage in the latter growing from in 2010/11 43 per cent to 65 per cent.
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