Master in Plant Sciences from the Austral University of Chile: a comprehensive program in a privileged location

This is Dr. Esteban Basoalto, Director of the Master’s in Plant Sciences of this house of studies accredited by CNA until September 2024.

Millaray Mariqueo, Science in Chile.- He Dr. Esteban Basoalto Venegas, is an Agronomist by profession, is an academic at the Institute of Plant Production and Health of the Southern University of Chile and is currently Director of Master in Plant Sciences, from this house of studies. His specialization in entomology It has allowed it to have new approaches to face the challenges of this type of program.

Within his academic work, he is mainly dedicated to work with insects, his research focuses on that area, from where he highlights the importance of interacting with other disciplines and factors, which make his profession a task of comprehensive knowledge, “The interesting thing about this area is that one always has to consider the interaction with different factors, it is quite broad, for example, the interaction with the plant, with the climate, with the type of management, etc., therefore, it allows you to relate with specialists from other specific areas and therefore integrate knowledge”, explains the academic.

This multidisciplinarity It is one of the main attributes of the Master, which allows students to work both in the scientific-technological field, as well as in the productive sector.

The Magister was created in 1983 and began its activity in 1985. This trajectory is a strength, since it is one of the oldest in the country. However, its main current challenge is the accreditation for next year, where they aspire to improve the level of accreditation, indicates the Director of the Program

On the other hand, it mentions the relevance of having the ability to integrate knowledge in a master’s program, both from students and educational staff, to develop solutions to the problems they face from the point of view of scientific research or to solve a problem. practical situation “I think that this is an interesting vision in the program, we care that students are able to integrate knowledge and put it into practice.”

New strategies for pest management

In relation to the current challenges in Plant Sciences, in general, Dr. Basoalto mentioned reducing dependence on pesticides as one of the priorities, which is linked to seeking strategies that consider, for example, managing behavior of a pest interfering in the communication processes of pests with their environment, “we do this through chemical signals, such as attractants, pheromones and also now with light signals in relation to how pests perceive their environment.”

The researcher works with semiochemicals, chemical substances that allow inter and intraspecific communication, among these, the best known are pheromones, but there are also other compounds that are capable of modifying the behavior of the pest to make it less harmful; seeking, for example, to protect the crop by masking it or masking the fruit, since one of their specialties is the work on fruit pests.

“Knowing these signals and understanding how to use them, a new control system can be implemented such as sexual confusion, host confusion or increasing the exposure of the pest to chemical programs (insecticides), so that at the same time the dose can be reduced. of insecticide, also reducing residues and the risk for the environment, the people associated with the crop and the consumers”, says the academic.

Due to all these effects, he says, one of his main goals is to get this widely implemented, since research results have been published so far, but “achieving mass practical implementation requires a little more time and effort.” ”, adds the scientist.

The working group of the Director of the Master in Plant Sciences is made up of researchers from the United States, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina, Sweden and Spain: “With them we have published scientific articles and we have been quite fruitful in demonstrating various methodologies, generating new management alternatives”, says

“People are still a little reluctant to change what they are used to doing, so we have to land these things there, even though we have shown that they work in the field. My big dream is that this goes to the producers”, concludes the professor.