Giulia Di Tommaso, President and CEO of CropLife International Continue reading
Stories tagged: plant science
#IamAg! Meet Ivan, an Agronomist from Serbia
This is the sixth post in our series “I am Agriculture”, that showcases the many careers available to young people in agriculture. Today’s post comes from Ivan Tupajic, an agronomist who works at a plant breeding station in Serbia.
My family and I live in a small and beautiful town of Kosjerić in Western Serbia, but my parents come from the countryside. That’s why we’re “weekend farmers”, as I like to say. Our estate is located not far away from the town and I have been doing agricultural work since I was a little child. I have always been in touch with agriculture, and beside farm animals that we keep, we also produce raspberries and process plums.
Providing training in Integrated Crop Management (ICM)
The plant science industry trains over 300,000 stakeholders every year in the safe use of its products and in integrated crop management (ICM).
Successful programs, like in India, have allowed farmers to improve the quality of their production and access new markets.
For example, Muvva Ramachandrao, a chili grower in Andra Pradesh, India, has been able to improve the quality of his chili crop, which he can now sell it at much higher prices.
He has reduced his loss from pest damage from 40 per cent to under 10 per cent and uses less pesticide and fertilizer. The improvement in quality is such that his chilies now command a premium price in a competitive market.