CREES holds certification on pesticide applicators

The Northern Marianas College–Cooperative Research, Extension and Education Service ends today its one-week “Pesticide Safety and Application” certification workshop.

The workshop, held at the Hyatt Regency Saipan, will end with the final certification exam.

CREES Rota Task Force chair and IPM coordinator Alejandro Badilles said the workshop aims to certify the local farmers as applicators of the pesticides they use in farming.

Badilles said the workshop is designed to prepare them to perform pest management safely, responsibly and lawfully.

Misuse of pesticides is a federal offense.

A total of 20 local farmers as well as government officials participated in the workshop.

Agriculture consultant Isidoro Cabrera said the workshop also intends to prepare the farmers who would be using the newly acquired pesticides, Fosphite and Kocide 45LF, to prevent the spread of the bud rot disease that has already killed thousands of betel nut trees in the CNMI.

Badilles said participants in the workshop still need to pass both the Core Exam today and the Category Exam. He said these exams would enable them to demonstrate their basic understanding of pests, pesticide labels, pesticide safety, application methods and equipment as well as the federal and the CNMI laws and regulations.

According to the handbook distributed during the workshop, the Core Exam focuses on basic pest management and pesticide safety information, whereas the Category Exam covers the technical aspects of specific types of pest management such as structural, turf and ornamental, or agricultural pest management and pesticide application.

The participants need to score at least 70 percent to pass the exams, said Badilles.

As certified private applicators, the participants need to demonstrate knowledge of pest management practices, the ability to recognize common pests and injury caused by pests, ability to read and understand pesticide labels, to calculate application rates and prepare proper dilutions to avoid contamination of the environment.

As private applicators, the farmers also need to recognize pesticide poisoning and first aid treatment, and to bear in mind the legal responsibilities on pesticide use.

Badilles said the certification license is valid for two years and could be renewed.

He said the Pesticide Safety Education Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture funded the certification workshop.