The Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry will promote, until the end of this year, initial training on the application of plant protection products for professional use, under special and transitional scheme, with groups of up to 50 trainees.
 
This training, whose order was published today in the Official Journal, comprises an initial module, with duration of four hours, and a second module, which will last 25 hours and must be completed by December 31, 2019.
 
As there were interested farmers registered until May 31, 2016 who did not have the opportunity to attend the first training module, it was now decided to apply a special and transitional scheme for the provision of training on the application of plant protection products.
 
The Government of the Azores estimates that about 2,400 farmers may take part in the training sessions.
 
This special and transitional scheme arises from the need to take into account the specificities of the regional agricultural sector, the geographic dispersion of its activity and the relevant number of professionals in the sector with specific training needs in the application of plant protection products.
 
The application for registration in the first module must be submitted to the Island Agrarian Development Services. The applicator certification is awarded to the trainees who successfully conclude the first module.
 
These training courses are aimed at the acquisition of knowledge to safely handle and apply plant protection products by reducing risks to the applicator, the environment and the consumer. Hence, they safeguard public health and the production of quality food products.