Integrated Production (IP)  / Integrated Farming (IF)

The International Organisation for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants (IOBC) defines Integrated Production (IP) as “a concept of sustainable agriculture based on agro-ecology and a system approach that aims at contributing to sustainable, resilient, profitable and robust farming systems” where “IPM is the part of IP focusing on pests, pathogens and weeds”.

The European Economic and Social Committee highlighted in its opinion of 2014 on ‘Integrated Production in the European Union’ that “‘integrated production’ is frequently used as a synonym for ‘integrated farming’ and in many countries the two terms are used interchangeably. However, despite the fact that they are parallel systems with many elements in common, they are actually quite different, representing two separate models from which the farmer can choose. Integrated production adopts a sector-based approach with different rules according to the product in question, whereas integrated farming refers to the overall management of a farm”, where one major focus of IP is “to put general concepts such as innovation and technology into practice and to apply them on an on-going basis” as for example Precision and Digital Farming methods and, in the framework of IPM, Forecast Models and Decision support systems (DSS). Use of IP reduces the agricultural burden on environment, human and animal health and in addition improves the economic situation of farmers by reducing production costs and improving and modernising farm management.

In the EU current IP certification schemes are handled very differently. For example, in Spain IP is certified on community level based on Spanish national law (Real Decreto 1201/2002 of 20th November 2002). Therefore, IP requirements apply for all agricultural production means and especially to plant protection products, fertiliser and biostimulant products, although in very different ways. As performance and efficacy of the products link the agricultural needs and requirements to the regulatory process of product registration, consideration of IP in product development and testing is of high importance, especially in view of marketing and sales opportunities.