27-30 September 2004 Proceedings of fifth international conference on alternatives to methyl bromide

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LISBON, PORTUGAL, 27-30 SEPTEMBER 2004

Editors: Tom Batchelor and Flávia Alfarroba

The "Fifth International Conference on Alternatives to Methyl Bromide" was held in Lisbon, Portugal, 27-30 September 2004. It was attended by about 170 technical experts and participants from 30 developed and developing countries.

The Conference consisted of the following sections:

Keynote papers that summarised the procedures for critical use exemptions (CUEs) for methyl bromide submitted to, and evaluated by, the Montreal Protocol's technical experts, and the results of their work; the procedures for licensing methyl bromide for CUEs; The impact of European legislation on pesticides including methyl bromide and its alternatives; an update on methyl bromide and ozone depletion; agriculture certification standards; industry-government partnerships for rapid registration of alternatives; technology transfer; and the importance of leadership in eliminating methyl bromide;

Overview papers that examined the development and implementation of alternatives in tomato and strawberry crops where most of the methyl bromide is consumed;

Scientific and commercial papers that showed the new products under development and the state of play for alternatives that have been on the market for a range of crops for some time. These papers were grouped into sessions on Strawberry production; Cut-flowers and ornamentals; Improved application methods; Quarantine and pre-shipment; Tomato, pepper and other vegetables; Structures, commodities and artifacts; and International standards, technology transfer and adoption of alternatives.

Alternatives Fair where companies were invited to display and demonstrate products and equipment on methyl bromide alternatives;

Alternatives in use that consisted of summary presented by the co-chairs of each of the sessions; and

Posters were displayed that supported the presentations made by experts.

The major sponsors of the Conference were the Instituto do Ambiente (IA, Ministry of Environment), Direcção-Geral de Protecção das Culturas (DGPC, Ministry of Agriculture), the Technical University of Lisbon / Faculty of Agronomy, ADISA (Associação para o Desenvolvimento do Instituto Superior de Agronomia) and the European Commission. We are also grateful to Dow AgroSciences for a financial contribution towards the cost of the travel expenses for some technical experts.

The organisers gratefully acknowledge the hard work by all those that attended and contributed to the success of the Conference; and to those organisations and enterprises that sponsored the attendance of experts, participants and key events which helped to make this Conference a success.

The "Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Alternatives to Methyl Bromide" contains more than 300 pages of information. First, you may wish to download a copy of the SPEAKER PROGRAMME [239 KB] which shows the speakers and their papers according to the ten Conference themes (shown in red below). Secondly, you may wish to open the Zip [3.12 MB] or Acrobat [1.85 MB] versions of the full Conference Proceedings and print a copy. Thirdly, you may wish to view the Conference Proceedings and only select the pages and papers for printing that are of interest to you. In all versions the colour cover of the Conference Proceedings has not been included in order to reduce the size of the file that can be downloaded and printed.

1. International and national measures affecting the critical uses of methyl bromide

Summary of reports of the meetings of the parties to the montreal protocol on exemptions for the critical uses of methyl bromide for 2005 and 2006. [574 KB]
M.F. Hildebrand

The impact of the montreal protocol and european union controls on methyl bromide. [472 KB]
T.A. Batchelor

Update on the review of pesticides in the european union and implications for methyl bromide and chemical alternatives. [1.17 MB]
L. Smeets

2. Strawberry production

Strawberry fruit production: summaries of alternatives to methyl bromide fumigation and trials in different geographic regions. [1.94 MB]
i. Porter, S. Mattner, R. Gounder, R. Mann, J. Banks and P. Fraser

Main results of trials on methyl bromide alternatives for strawberry fruit and runners produced in spain. [3.38 MB]
J.M. Lopez aranda, L. Miranda, F. Romero, B. De los santos, C. Soria, J.J. Medina, F. Montes, J.M. Vega, J.I. Paez, J. Bascon, A. Martinez-treceño, D. Garcia-sinovas, E. Garcia-mendez, M. Becerril, A. De cal, T. Salto, M.L. Martinez-beringola, and P. Melgarejo

Substrates as an alternative to methyl bromide for strawberry fruit production in northern europe in both protected and field production. [2.99 MB]
F. Lieten

Substrate system for production of strawberry fruit in spain and mediterranean climates. [3.25 MB]
J. López-medina, A. Peralbo, M.A. Fernández, D. Hernanz, G. Toscano, M.C. hernández & F. Flores

Use of 1,3-dichloropropene / chloropicrin for the production of strawberries in spain. [907 KB]
T. Carrera, A. Carrera and V. Pedros

The use of telopic in strawberry production in spain. [1.43 MB]
Juan Ortega

The use of fumigants and grafted plants as alternatives to methyl bromide for the production of tomatoes and vegetables in italy. [2.25 MB]
Carlo Spotti

The use of biofumigation with new types of solarisation film for strawberry production in spain. [4.88 MB]
J.J. Medina, L. Miranda, F. Romero, B. De los santos, F. Montes, J.m. Vega, J.I. Paez, J. Bascon, C. Soria and J.M. Lopez aranda

Strawberry nurseries: summaries of alternatives to methyl bromide fumigation and trials in different geographic regions. [2.45 MB]
I. Porter, S. Mattner, R. Mann and R. Gounder