Leading Spanish tomato cooperative CASI has pledged to convert 100 per cent of its production sites to biological pest control systems within three years as part of a focus on gaining a better price for its member growers.
Speaking at the Almería-based group’s extraordinary general assembly this week, CASI president, José María Andújar, said that one of the cooperative’s key objectives for the 2001/12 campaign was to increase its use of natural pest control methods as it searches for a “fair price” for its tomatoes.
Pledging to “lead the introduction of biological controls in the countryside”, Andújar revealed that the organisation anticipated that 40 per cent of its total production will make use of natural predators to control pests during the coming campaign.
The objective, he said, was to extend this figure to 100 per cent of CASI’s tomato production by the 2013/14 campaign.
Andújar added that the cooperative would also be investing in the modernisation of its facilities during the new season, including internal transportation and packing.
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