Since 2009, PSS Institut Tamiš has participated in the implementation of the Plant Health Protection Measures Program within its area of operation covering four municipalities of the South Banat District (Pančevo, Kovačica, Opovo, and Alibunar).
The Rulebook regulating these entrusted activities is adopted each year by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia, Plant Protection Directorate. Similar programs in the field of plant quarantine are implemented in most European countries.
This program includes continuous and specific monitoring of harmful organisms (bacteria, fungi, phytoplasmas, viruses, nematodes, mites, and insects) on plants of public interest for the Republic of Serbia, with the aim of preventing their occurrence, introduction, spread, and ensuring their effective control.
The program is implemented within defined time periods through visual inspections, sampling, and laboratory testing, all aimed at the official process of recording, collecting, and processing data on the presence or absence of harmful organisms.
Special monitoring of harmful organisms is conducted in potato, tomato, maize, and watermelon crops, as well as in plantations of pome fruits, stone fruits, berries, grapevines, ornamental plants grown in protected areas, forest areas, and in production plantations originating from imported planting material (post-quarantine monitoring).
A significant part of the Plant Health Protection Program is focused on the special monitoring of harmful organisms in potato crops. Thanks to this program, and based on the unanimous opinion of the Standing Committee on Plant Health, in 2012 the European Commission adopted a decision recognizing Serbia as a country free from the bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. sepedonicus. This created the conditions for the export of ware potatoes to the countries of the European Union.
During the implementation of the Plant Health Protection Measures Program, PSS Institut Tamiš also conducts training and continuous information for agricultural producers on the importance of implementing measures for the prevention, early detection, monitoring, control, and eradication of harmful organisms.