HISTORY
PLANT PROTECTION INSTITUTE, SOŚNICOWICE BRANCH
50s
In August 1955, the Board of the District National Council in Gliwice transferred a property in Sośnicowice to the Plant Protection Institute. It consisted of a house and a farm building on a 2 ha lot. The house was a villa built at the beginning of XX century by a local doctor. The property was located about 10 km from the center of Gliwice. The representative of the beneficiary was Leonard Klicza, later a devoted and long term employee of the Branch. This was the beginning of the first organizational unit under the PPI, called “Potato Beetle Study Division”. Colorado beetle, its biology and control was the subject of studies conducted by Prof. Mieczysław Miksiewicz during the first years of the division operations. It remained its basic scientific object till 1960s. Numerous publications by Mieczysław Miksiewicz, Kazimiera Kliczowa, Leonard Klicza and Antoni Jagielski were issued throughout this period.
60s
In 1960 two laboratory facilities were added and new organizational units created: Fungicides Lab, Zoocides Lab and Chemical Lab. In the 60s, the biological labs conducted efficacy testing on fungicides, insecticides and acaricides. Both groups of specialists carried out pesticide efficacy studies in laboratory, field and greenhouse conditions. Nationally manufactured as well as imported compounds were analyzed. Positive results of these experiments were crucial for their admission for distribution and use in agriculture. In the early 60s, experiments were conducted according to standardized study techniques. At that time, the Branch was also responsible for quality testing of pesticides stored at different points of sale, developing new study techniques and improving the existing ones. The Fungicides and Zoocides Labs collaborated closely with the chemical industry and its RD units with respect to efficacy of new active ingredients, their mixtures and various formulations.
In 1960, a Chemical Laboratory, established by Prof. Tadeusz Stobiecki, began to operate. It was intended to do research and development and provide services. Its primary focus was on pesticide residues in plants, chemical and physical analyses of preparations, and evaluation of pesticide qualities to ensure their proper effect and application as agrochemicals. The Lab worked on conclusions and recommendations for the Ministry of Agriculture regarding admissions for use and distribution of new pesticides. It was at that time in Sośnicowice that Prof. Tadeusz Stobiecki and his team set up and implemented a modern system of pesticide registration; a first of this kind in Poland. Pioneer studies on residues also began in the early 60s in Sośnicowice. The Chemical Lab issued statements and expert opinions in cases of arbitration, supervised the quality control process for Polish pesticide manufacturers and set up a standardizing unit.
Involvement in such a broad range of activities on a national scale brought about the creation of an independent Department of Pesticide Analysis, Control and Registration in 1965. The Department worked on and advanced the scientific and technical expertise with respect to pesticide quality, efficacy, analyses and physical chemistry. The Branch became a very important unit within the system of plant protection proper operation in Poland. A few years later, the Department changed its name into Department of Analysis and Quality Control and continued working on its basic scope of activities, improving its systems of operation and experimental resources.
70s
In 1972, the Laboratory for Pesticide Residues Testing was established under the management of Dr. Margit Murawska. Organizationally, the Lab belonged to the Department of Pesticide Residue Testing in Poznań and it conducted numerous analytic studies on the levels of pesticide residues in plant material in Poland.
In 1973, Dr. Mariola Głazek founded a Division of Field Experiments and Implementation and in collaboration with the same unit in Poznań, they carried out studies on new methods of plant protection in southern and western Poland in plot and field experiments. Later on, the Division became part of the Department of Pesticide Analysis and Quality Control and focused on studies of phytopathology with specialty in cereal protection against diseases. The Lab evaluated the effectiveness of chemical treatments in field conditions. The scope of work included efficacy studies, phytotoxicity and efficiency of pesticide use for agricultural production. They studied chemicals that had been previously tested in laboratory, greenhouse and plot conditions. The main objective was to introduce the pesticides into agricultural practice, define their range of applications and dosage. The Division, and now The Department of Pesticide Efficacy Testing has developed and still develops their services and training programs with regard to counseling, expert opinions and plant protection expertise. It also collects literature on pesticide use, plant diseases, including unique disease atlases and resources for proper diagnostics.
In the 70s, the technical and equipment resources of the Department grew to a large extent (a new laboratory facility was added) and by the end of the 70s the Branch had over 80 employees working in the fields that became its specialty. Among others, these were: chemical and biological quality control of pesticides, cereal diseases control, including development of laboratory study methods, residues studies and pesticide efficacy testing.
80s
Next Branch Managers – Dr. Jan Święch and Dr. Leonard Ogierman advanced the basic scope of activities through discovery studies (new preparations, new biologically active ingredient compositions) and essential publications on pesticide mechanism of action and new analytic techniques. Also, a new chemical synthesis lab was established, where Dr. Andrzej Siłowiecki and Dr. Janusz Świętosławski synthesized biologically active ingredients, their metabolites and intermediate products and used them in their own original studies. Great advancements were made with regard to chemical analysis and physical and chemical testing. A team of analytical chemists (Dr. Andrzej Siłowiecki, Dr. Bożena Rycaj, M.Sc. Jadwiga Doroz, M.Sc. Stanisław Stobiecki) performed many analytic studies with a national scale impact. A team involved with pesticide efficacy testing (Dr. Elżbieta Palik, Eng. Barbara Grabowska and M.Sc. Danuta Gmiterek) for many years conducted studies leading to good plant protection control in Poland and introduction of new and effective technologies.
90s
Since 1990 Sośnicowice Branch has had two scientific departments: Pesticide Efficacy Testing Department and Pesticide Analysis Department working on its basic scope of operation and improving its specialties, acquiring better equipment and broadening the range of standard tests.
The following are the Branch’s specialties:
- Phytopathology (diagnostics and cereal protection),
- Pesticide analysis and physical chemistry,
- Pesticide quality control (chemical and biological methods),
- Environmental protection, including securing and disposal of pesticide waste,
- Pesticide efficacy testing through plot experiments (field trials),
- Pesticide standardization,
- Pesticide residue testing in plant material, soil and water,
- Quality expert opinions,
- Expert opinions on pesticide waste impact on the environment,
- Technical concentrates analysis,
- Studies on combined applications of agrochemicals (tank-mix),
- Phytotoxicity testing,
- Expert opinions and legal statements regarding waste management,
In the mid-90s the Plant Protection Institute in Sośnicowice in collaboration with its mother PPI in Poznan and other institutions worked on numerous projects, studies and programs in the field of pesticide waste disposal under the management of M.Sc. Stanisław Stobiecki, the Branch Manager.
One of the PHARE projects allowed to gather resources necessary to purchase equipment used in disposal of obsolete pesticide landfills (so called “tombs” or Pol. ”mogilniki” pl). A specialized team was set up and trained to be able to perform disposal procedures in conditions of the highest chemical risk. The team worked on several complex cases, including sites after fire, floods and emergency securing of hazardous poisons.
In 1998 The Provincial Fund for the Environmental Protection and Water Management in Katowice awarded the PPI Sośnicowice with the first prize for achievements in the field of the environmental protection.
2000+
The Branch started two more PHARE projects of vital importance to solving the problem of obsolete pesticides accumulation in Poland:
In 2000 two Departments of the Sośnicowice Branch began to make efforts to obtain an official accreditation from Polish Center for Testing and Certification in Warsaw:
The Branch is involved in an extensive remodeling and modernizing project in order to streamline the scope of its projects, enhance its human resources productivity and ensure financial security at a difficult time and conditions resulting from the current mechanism of R&D institutions funding.
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