Jakarta Meet Likely To Finalise Draft Of GAP For Pepper

Kochi: The International Pepper Community (IPC) will conduct a second meeting to finalise the draft of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) for Pepper in Jakarta from April 24-25. Experts from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka who met in Jakarta in November 2006 had outlined the IPC GAP for pepper. The draft GAP was circulated to member countries for suggestions/comments. IPC has so for got suggestions/comments from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the European Spice Association (ESA), and these would be discussed at the GAP meeting. Simultaneously a meeting to discuss the draft on IPC Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Pepper will also be conducted in Jakarta from April 26-27. The IPM was discussed at the past two pepper-tech meetings. At the 30th pepper-tech meeting, a committee comprising experts from member countries and chaired by Dr Y.R. Sarma was formed. The committee stressed the importance of compiling all information available on pests and diseases of pepper. The committee also held a discussion subsequently at the 31st Pepper-tech meeting in Sri Lanka in September 2006.