The status of warning services for plant pests in Italy*

Abstract

A survey of the present status of warning services for plant protection in Italy shows the lack of a national project, so that the different regional governments approach the question in different ways. In spite of this, some common characters are present: (1) most of the regions manage the warning service directly; (2) everywhere, the warning service interacts with research institutes, farmers’ associations, agrometeorological networks and other warning services; (3)‘indirect warning’ is the prevalent model of organization; geographical areas are divided into homogeneous subareas, where information useful for producing advice is collected and elaborated; warnings are then disseminated by different means of communication, and farmers comply with them autonomously; (4) warnings are usually prepared by a team of advisers, who meet periodically, analyse available information and elaborate suggestions for crop protection; (5) available information comes from field monitoring, weather stations, insect and spore traps, forecasting models for pests and diseases; unfortunately, forecasting models are not widespread; (6) the content of warnings is rather uniform, including information on crops, pests and diseases, suggestions for control strategies and, frequently, meteorological conditions and forecasts; (7) different means are used to disseminate warnings to farmers; usually several methods co‐exist: bulletins published in local newspapers, sent by mail or fax, displayed on notice boards or available via the Internet; placards; telephone messages; surveys on local TV or radio.