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Category: Yerba Mate
13
Mar
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Sustainable Yerba Mate: Integrated Pest Management at Triunfo
Triunfo do Brasil is always committed to sustainability. In order to grow in greater harmony with the environment and produce sustainable yerba mate, one of its actions is Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
This type of technique is concerned with executing integrated management, as the name implies, to combat insects that can affect plants. The main characteristic of this technology is avoiding the use of chemical products and seeking a biological balance in the environment. As a result, pests are naturally combated.
Learn more about management and how Triunfo implements it during the yerba mate cycle in its fields.
What is Integrated Pest Management?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) emerged in the 1960s as an alternative for a more conscious use of pesticides in agriculture and forestry. The technology seeks to implement
various techniques so that pests are combated by their own natural enemies. Management can be applied to various different cultivations.
For this to happen effectively, there needs to be a natural balance in the environment.The actions that contribute to this stability and are part of IPM are chemical, physical and biological care of the soil, correct fertilization of the crop, recognition and selection of what are natural enemies and what are pests, closer monitoring of the insect population so it can be controlled at the right time, biological technologies, among other precautions.
Sustainable Yerba Mate from Triunfo and IPM
Despite being a native plant, yerba mate's development and quality are also affected by pests, weeds and diseases, which end up damaging its growth and productivity. As mentioned previously, Triunfo uses Integrated Management to combat pests, which contributes to sustainable yerba mate, produced in harmony with the environment.
The most common pests found in the region where Triunfo's fields are located are Ampola-da-Erva-Mate (Yerba Mate Ampull) and Broca-da-Erva-Mate (Yerba Mate Borer). Ampull is the popular name for the insect Gyropsylla spegazziniana, whose main damage is the deformation of new leaves, which take on the appearance of galls, leaf fall and delayed seedling development.
The yerba mate borer is considered the main pest in yerba mate cultivation. It is a beetle species that damages the plant through its larvae. They form tunnels in the stem and prevent the sap from circulating, consequently damaging the plant's development and potentially causing its death.
Triunfo's yerba mate fields are located amongst araucaria trees in a environment rich in biodiversity. This contributes to pest control, where there is total coverage, and is extremely beneficial for the soil, guaranteeing carbon fixation and protecting its microbiota, making plants grow healthier.
Vegetation is allowed to grow as a green cover to contribute to biodiversity. It is only controlled by mowing so that there is no competition with the yerba mate plants. There are various ways of controlling pests throughout the plant's cycle. It all starts at the source. Similarly to other crops, yerba mate also requires seedlings to come from the right source, a requirement that Triunfo complies with to the letter.
All Triunfo yerba mate seedlings come from the seeds of a century old mother tree in the company's own nursery. Their replication is done following all the criteria for generating quality plants, which contribute to better health, bioactive composition, good productivity, among other aspects.
The herb nutrition is also essential. At Triunfo, this is done with registered organic products, when necessary and according to soil analysis. An organic compost produced by the company itself with residues from the yerba mate processing operation is also used. This strengthens the idea of sustainability, where natural resources are used and waste disposal to the environment is reduced.
The fertilizing process is always done in spring, in September, when the plant begins to sprout. With balanced nutrition, the plant becomes much more resistant to adverse weather conditions and attacks from pests and diseases.
For control, specifically, two techniques are used. The first is through more frequent monitoring in the fields, a premise of IPM, in an attempt to identify pests, natural enemies and populations of both. If an excessive number of pest insects are identified, the team collects them manually.
Another form is biological control. Attentive to sustainable trends, Triunfo has been using this control since 2013, when the first commercial products of this type were available on the market.
Since then, the technical team has been perfecting the application of the product. Specific strains are used to combat each infesting pest, thus ensuring efficiency in combating them. It's important to clarify that Triunfo does not use chemical products in its production, as the company has several seals certifying its yerba mate as organic. In any case, in Brazil, there are no chemical pesticides to combat pests in yerba mate approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. In addition, products of this origin can make pests even more resistant to insecticides and cause the death of natural enemies, causing instability in the biodiversity of the environment.
Triunfo and Sustainability
The actions in this article are just some of the many that Triunfo do Brasil implements, always striving for sustainability and the quality of its products. The 100% organic plantation is in the middle of native forest and covers around two thousand hectares. The yerba mate produced by the company is already present on five continents. Get to know Triunfo's products and buy sustainable, quality yerba mate!
