Isfahan – Iran’s Plant Protection Organization is expanding international cooperation in biological pest management, with new partnerships underway with several countries that have achieved notable success in eco-friendly pest control, announced the organization’s president.

 

Speaking on the eve of National Plant Protection Day at the annual conference of provincial plant protection experts in Isfahan, Maryam Jalili-Moqaddam outlined the organization’s scientific and international initiatives. She called for a paradigm shift from chemical-based to knowledge-based agriculture, emphasizing the need to strengthen biological control methods, improve pesticide standards, and rethink the sources of product contamination.

 

“The transition from a chemical-driven to a knowledge-driven approach is essential to achieving sustainable agricultural development,” she said, highlighting the growing importance of biological pest control and scientific innovation in protecting crops and ecosystems.

 

Jalili-Moqaddam also underscored the role of surveillance and monitoring networks in modern pest management. “These networks provide precise and timely data, enabling rapid responses to pest threats and preventing large-scale agricultural losses,” she explained. “This is the science-based path on which the future of Iran’s agriculture must be built.”

 

As part of expanding agricultural science diplomacy, Iran will soon dispatch a specialist delegation to Russia to visit successful biocontrol projects and lay the groundwork for technology transfer and joint research.

 

Furthermore, in coordination with agricultural regulators in China and India, the organization has agreed to implement source-based quality certification for pesticides, ensuring only standardized and safe products enter the Iranian market and protecting farmers from potential losses caused by low-quality imports.