CropLife Mauritius opened a new training centre to teach users and sellers of pesticides about the safe and responsible use of these products. Currently, the centre offers two courses: one for field spray operators and one for pesticide distributors. Both courses are accredited by the Mauritius Qualifications Authority, which is the national organization that accredits and controls all training institutions and their programmes.
The first course is scheduled for November 2012, but preparations started one year ago. In December 2011, CropLife Mauritius officially registered the centre with the Mauritius Qualification Authority. Organisers appointed a program officer and contracted with four trainers from the plant science industry.
Both courses are based on existing training materials from CropLife Africa Middle East. The course for field spray operators consists of eight modules with a total duration of 18 hours. Topics include pesticide calibration, calculation of dosage, measuring and mixing, and application. The other course also consists of eight modules with a total duration of almost 19 hours. Topics include buying and selling pesticides, storing them, protective clothing and disposal of empty containers. Participants pay a fee of US$235 for a complete course.
The plan is to offer both courses every quarter with a minimum of 10 participants per course. Once the two courses are running smoothly, a third course devoted entirely to Integrated Pest Management will be developed for farmers.