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According to Mehr News Agency, Maryam Jalili-Moghaddam, speaking at the opening ceremony of the 25th National Plant Protection Congress of Iran, emphasized that food security is a critical issue for the country. She noted that the Supreme Leader has placed special emphasis on this matter in agriculture-related statements. The Plant Protection Organization, as a rapid-response and international entity with sovereign duties and strategic goals such as strengthening food security, enhancing sustainable agricultural productivity, improving the health of agricultural products from farm to table, protecting the environment from the impacts of plant pests, and facilitating safe trade, development, and economic growth, plays a significant role in ensuring the sustainability of agricultural production and increasing the country’s food security index.
She outlined the organization’s major responsibilities in achieving food security, stating: Managing and combating damaging factors (pests, diseases, and weeds) through chemical, non-chemical, and biological methods, utilizing monitoring, tracking, and surveillance networks for pests and diseases, developing non-chemical and biological pest control methods, and preventing the entry, establishment, and spread of quarantine pests, diseases, and weeds through quarantine posts are among the organization’s key duties.
Jalili-Moghaddam stressed the importance of adhering to laws regarding smuggling, population growth, and the elimination of high-risk pesticides, saying: With the new regulations of the Goods and Currency Headquarters, any distribution of pesticides outside the registered pesticide monitoring system is considered smuggling, and criminal smuggling laws will be enforced. Additionally, under the population growth laws, there is strict and meticulous oversight regarding pesticides, human health, and environmental safety.
She noted that enhancing quarantine and plant health cooperation with other countries is on the organization’s agenda, adding: Currently, we have 24 agreements and 22 memoranda of understanding with other countries regarding the export, import, and transit of agricultural shipments. Additionally, 13 protocols for the export and import of agricultural products have been signed with countries that have the most agricultural trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The head of the Plant Protection Organization highlighted efforts to strengthen security systems in global trade, stating: One of the measures to enhance the security systems of countries trading agriculturally with Iran is the bilateral exchange of quarantine documents and plant health certificates. Furthermore, under the International Plant Protection Convention, the ePhyto system has been launched, issuing plant health certificates electronically rather than on paper, preventing certificate forgery and facilitating safe trade between countries while adhering to plant protection regulations.
She emphasized the importance of supporting knowledge-based agricultural companies in advancing and improving the organization’s activities, adding: Given the speed of trade exchanges with neighboring countries, if we do not leverage knowledge-based companies and their integration into the organization’s activities, our pace will not meet society’s needs.
Jalili-Moghaddam further stated: Upgrading systems such as SMAK, monitoring, nursery, and the comprehensive plant pest monitoring system are among the organization’s programs for smart and knowledge-based operations.
She announced the launch of an electronic plant protection prescription system, explaining: In collaboration with the Agricultural and Natural Resources Engineering Organization, the electronic plant protection prescription system was piloted in 2023 in four provinces—Fars, Isfahan, Qazvin, and Mazandaran. Since the beginning of 2024, the issuance of plant protection prescriptions has been mandated exclusively through this system, requiring cooperation, interaction, and participation with the private sector, plant protection clinics, professors, and researchers.
The head of the Plant Protection Organization reiterated that the process of eliminating high-risk pesticides and registering low-risk pesticides is being implemented at high speed, stating: Eliminating high-risk pesticides and replacing them with low-risk alternatives, a key approach of the organization, is a time-consuming process, but it is being executed rapidly.
She added: The legal process for approving pesticides is conducted by the Pesticide Supervisory Board, which includes representatives from the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, the Environmental Protection Organization, the National Forensic Medicine Organization, the Veterinary Organization, the Plant Protection Organization, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Industry Research, the Plant Protection Research Institute, and two pest control experts appointed by the Minister of Agriculture.
Jalili-Moghaddam noted that over the past years, 168 pesticide items have been removed from the country’s approved list due to health or environmental risks, stating: One of the most important criteria in the initial review for approving new pesticides by the Pesticide Supervisory Board is the absence of risks to fertility and fetal development. Applications from pesticide supply companies are evaluated from various perspectives, including environmental impacts, human health (including effects on fertility, fetal development, endocrine systems, and carcinogenicity), and efficacy under Iran’s climatic and environmental conditions. Upon approval by the Pesticide Supervisory Board, the pesticide is approved for controlling the target pest on a specific host with a specified dosage and added to the country’s approved pesticide list.
She emphasized the prioritization of the organization’s executive needs by research institutes, stating: Given climate change, precipitation fluctuations, drought, and the emergence of transboundary pests such as desert locusts, fall armyworms, and red palm weevils, which threaten food security, preventive measures must be taken, and the research needs of the executive sectors should be prioritized by relevant professors and researchers.
The head of the Plant Protection Organization continued: Comprehensive collaboration between academic, research, and executive sectors with a problem-solving approach to update pest tracking and control guidelines, investigate invasive pests with high economic damage potential, introduce alternatives to methyl bromide in pest control operations, increase the use of information technology in pest identification, tracking, and control programs, develop biological and non-chemical control methods, and enhance the knowledge and production of services by knowledge-based companies are on the agenda.
Jalili-Moghaddam concluded: Enhancing the knowledge of policymakers, decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public with plant protection goals is crucial, as one of the ways to bring research results into practice is through education and extension efforts.
