The regulatory capacity review of the East African Community (EAC) focuses on the capacities of the EAC institutional framework to develop, implement, and sustain the efficient, transparent, and market-based regulatory system that is needed to achieve the economic benefits of the EAC common market. This report argues that the EAC institutions will be successful in implementing the common market only if they safeguard the quality of regulatory practices. This is a highly pragmatic and operational agenda. Quality principles can be applied only if they are defined and institutionalized into the machinery of policy making. The idea is that, just as fiscal management can increase social welfare by better allocating resources, so can regulatory governance.
This report aims to assess the steps taken during Rwanda's transition following the genocide against the objective of the long-term durability of domestic peace. Its principal conclusion is that peace is most likely to endure if Rwanda's political space is gradually opened up to allow: (i) Rwanda's formal state institutions to establish greater autonomy from the current regime; and (ii) Rwandan political and civil society, its political opposition and media in particular, to evolve as mature and independent counterweights to the ruling party. Incremental political liberalization will encourage an important shift in Rwanda's political culture to one which encouraged accountability for the subordination of institutional rules to personal, party, or ethnic interests. It falls on the regime to show the way forward to Rwanda's civil and political society by demonstrating its tolerance for genuine political pluralism, dissent, and inclusion. It is in the regime's long-term strategic self-interest to encourage such a change in political culture and increase its legitimacy in order to discourage attempts to bring about regime change extra-constitutionally.
The firming of the economic recovery is putting the policy spotlight back on the longer term challenge of faster, more inclusive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Modest investment rates despite attractive returns and low savings rates despite favorable demographics are important impediments. A virtuous cycle of faster capital accumulation, job creation (especially for the youth), and technological advancement needs to be stimulated. There are no quick fixes that can produce the desired stimulus. The quest for inclusive growth calls for a different, bolder approach. Integration of the advanced and less-developed economies and more effective integration with the global economy, using factory Southern Africa as a platform, hold considerable potential. South Africa's medium-term growth prospects point to a strengthening recovery. GDP growth is projected to be 3.5 percent in 2011, 4.1 percent in 2012 and 4.4 percent in 2013. The long term potential growth rate under the current policy environment is estimated at 3.5 percent. In light of South Africa's low national savings, the reemergence of high current account deficits, financed mostly through volatile portfolio flows, will reemerge as the biggest cause for macroeconomic concern over the medium term. With considerable strengthening of the economic recovery and GDP projected to reach its potential by 2014, the focus shifts back to the longer term challenge of raising GDP growth to 6-7 percent and making it much more inclusive to tackle the extremely high unemployment. This first issue is anchored in the national aspirations of faster and more inclusive growth, with special emphasis on the issues of savings and investment.
Moldova has suffered over the last two decades from rising poverty, territorial secession, armed conflict, and the spillover effects of a regional financial crisis, with declining population size and life expectancy, and an economy approximately one-half of what it was in 1990. The return of the Moldovan Communist Party (PCRM), which won two major elections after 2001, contributed to increasing centralization of governmental authority along with a reform agenda that emphasized greater state control over the economy, fiscal support to state enterprises and collective farms, land consolidation, economic protectionism, and the tolerance of monopolies in industry and energy. At the same time, the government has increased social expenditures, and taken major steps to improve public financial management. Bank engagement was moderately effective at the country and project levels, and substantially effective at the sector level. There was progress in several aspects of public financial management (PFM). Regulatory streamlining has reduced costs to business, although resistance to civil service reform has left much work to be done. The Bank has also helped achieve progress on Governance and Anticorruption (GAC) issues in primary education, roads, and private sector development. Education progress is highly uneven across regions, for example, overweight trucks continue to tear up roads, and private investment is not enough to make a dent in high unemployment. A graduated approach to country systems and road sector technical audits help address GAC issues at the project level. The overall impact of GAC strategy implementation was moderate. The GAC committees set up at the regional and sectoral Bank department levels are particularly useful mechanisms for disseminating practices from the GAC Council. Staff has been proactive in using Country Governance and Anticorruption (CGAC) resources. However, three applications for window one funding were not approved, reducing the ability of this small program to seize opportunities.
The focus of this paper is on the institutions outside the executive branch that include supreme audit institutions, legislative oversight bodies (such as parliamentary public accounts and budget committees, and ombudsmen), related independent bodies, and civil society organizations. Through their support for accountability, donor countries and international financial institutions seek to help countries: promote voice and accountability as an intrinsic human right, and improve development outcomes in terms of poverty reduction, sustainable development. The report is organized as: first, provide a brief literature review of research on accountability, and how donors and other actors can work to improve it, including a review of the experience of other bilateral and multilateral donors in supporting domestic accountability through their policies, strategies, and behaviors as well as through direct support to accountability actors and systems. Second, briefly review the guidance prepared for Bank staff toward enhancing accountability. Third, review some examples of the Bank's experience in supporting domestic accountability. Finally, we present some conclusions and accountability-related questions for further analysis.
Sustainable investment (SI) has a strong niche foothold in Sub-Saharan Africa, anchored in the region's largest investment market, South Africa. Yet more work is needed, at policy and portfolio levels, to grow this investment theme. This report recommends measures to expand SI in Sub-Saharan Africa. It forecasts that over the next five years there will be considerable growth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations applied to investment in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. While these three countries form the basis of the study, the lion's share of data and observations emerged from South Africa, which is home to the continent's most developed capital markets.
This paper reviews the experiences of intergovernmental fiscal systems (IGFS) to look for possible lessons for how Official Development Assistance (ODA) is delivered. Specifically, it compares IGFS and ODA in two specific respects. The first is the proportion of public resources that central governments make available to sub-national governments on a conditional basis, and how that compares with the proportion of non-earmarked ODA given to low income countries. The second is the role of performance outcome in resource allocation to sub-national governments and how that compares with the role of performance in ODA, particularly multilateral ODA allocation. The comparisons show that: (i) the share of earmarked ODA is more than three times higher than that of conditional grants in intergovernmental systems, suggesting that donors in ODA rely more on earmarking to influence the spending decisions of the recipient countries than their federal governments do on conditional grants to induce policy changes in their own sub-national governments; and (ii) none of the OECD countries currently use outcome measures in determining resource allocation to their sub-national governments for a variety of good reasons, and the recent debate as to whether multilateral ODA allocation should be based on development outcomes seems to ignore this experience.
The involvement of the rural private sector in water supply in Cambodia is unique to the country. The presence of this private sector allows other entities to respond to new demands from people living in the larger villages for household water supply, which the State is not yet able to address. These entrepreneurs operate on a merchant basis, lacking an institutional structure which is still being created. Their business is most often based on pushcart delivering water barrels at the house of villagers or more recently on small piped networks usually distributing raw surface water. Service is rough; the water quality is uncertain, but the users are satisfied with this service, because for them, it constitutes another alternative to the already considerable choice of water supplies available-ponds, wells, boreholes, and rivers. Their demands focus more on a practical objective (a supply in the household) than on a sanitary one, even if surveys show that villagers have a good understanding of health risks associated with water. Through the implementation of 14 small scale water supply systems, the goal was to enhance a qualitative improvement of the water service in some Cambodian small towns through the transformation of rough and informal merchant services to a basic water service supplying drinking water to an extended population under a formal institutional arrangement. The MIREP (Mini Reseaux d'Eau Potable - Small Scale Piped Water Supply System) program, launched in 2001 to transform these very basic initiatives into basic services, began as a pilot project supporting one entrepreneur in the implementation of a small piped water system. In order to move forward, the MIREP program made a choice, in particular linked to its proximity to the Ministry of rural development, to assist the nascent involvement of communes in decentralization, to strengthen provincial power through the process of decentralization, and to respect the cultural heritage of those who devised and financed the project.
This assessment forms part of the joint International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Indonesia Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) which is being undertaken during 2009-2010. The assessment which covers the Bank Indonesia's real time gross settlement (BI-RTGS) system's observance of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems (SIPS) and the Central Bank's Responsibilities in applying the Core Principles was conducted during the first mission. The assessment which was conducted with the cooperation of the Bank Indonesia and other key players in the payment systems area was undertaken by Alice Zanza, Senior Payment Systems Specialist, World Bank with the assistance of Bruce Summers, Senior Payment Systems Advisor, World Bank. Although there are several systems in operation in Indonesia, BI considers the Bank Indonesia Real Time Gross Settlement (BI-RTGS) system to be the only systemically important payment system in the country. BI-RTGS is owned by BI and operated by the Payment Systems Department in the Directorate of Accounting and Payment Systems. To date, the assessment team does not have any information to expand the scope of systemically important payment systems in Indonesia and has conducted the assessment of the RTGS system, as the sole SIPS in the country.
This paper looks at the role and design of regulatory reform institutions in developing countries. These institutions are classified into four broad types: 1) regulatory reform units, commonly known in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries as oversight bodies for regulatory reform; 2) high-level committees for regulatory reform, established in some countries to leverage support and take decisions at a high political level; 3) advisory and/or advocacy bodies in charge of proposing improvements to the regulatory system by strengthening coordination and consultation mechanisms and by promoting the regulatory reform agenda; and 4) Ad hoc institutions for regulatory reform, established to launch regulatory reform efforts and to work on a single defined task or activity. This paper is divided into the following sections: section one briefly reviews the theoretical debate and literature about the role of institutions in facilitating higher economic growth, focusing in particular on regulatory institutions and their relevance in developing countries; section two discusses the main features of regulatory reform institutions at the center of government, namely regulatory oversight bodies, high level committees, advocacy and/ or advisory bodies and ad-hoc institutions for regulatory reform; and section three identifies the features of these institutions that are considered to be best practice. Section three also identifies and discusses lessons learned and the implications for establishing and operating such institutions in developing country contexts.
The Baltic States; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Poland are situated along strategic trade corridors within Europe, constituting the EUs eastern border with Russia and other CIS countries. EU membership has triggered rapid economic growth for the Baltic States and Poland due to the removal of trade barriers and reduced transaction costs. A heavy influx of EU grants has targeted development and improvement of transport infrastructure, and this support will continue until 2015. The EU grants are largely used for development of international corridors, which play a key role in strengthening the competitiveness of these new member states. Since their accession to the EU in 2004, these countries enjoyed remarkable growth. While the countries underwent varying degrees of contractions in 2009, signs of recovery are showing albeit with considerable uncertainty in the future. Growth in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in recent years has been unsustainable and was driven by a disproportionate increase in the non-tradable sector (construction, financial intermediation, real estate). This has had negative implications for competitiveness. The global economic crisis in 2009 has ended Poland?s fast economic expansion over the recent years, but in contrast to its neighbors Poland has avoided a decline in economic activity. Over the medium term, growth in Poland is expected to accelerate steadily in line with an improving external environment. The Baltic States and Poland are relatively competitive in trade logistics and have initiated reforms to facilitate trade, compared to their eastern neighbors, particularly Russia. Despite the plunge in 2008, freight transport and logistics development in the region has potential to continue to grow in the medium-term as some signs of recovery have begun to appear. The current economic situation has triggered a significant overcapacity of transport and warehousing which is characterized by very low prices for these services. While Poland remains relatively stable, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are exhibiting higher vulnerability to external shocks. The most critical bottlenecks of transport logistics in the Baltic States and Poland are found in the deteriorating condition of their transport infrastructure, particularly that of road networks, lessdeveloped intermodal connections, and inefficiency of custom processing at border crossing points. Deteriorating road condition in these countries is largely due to inadequate maintenance and a comprehensive asset management system, albeit improving. Intermodal connections that are often inefficient are partly attributed to institutional arrangement that lacks inter-agency collaboration at the level of policy development and public investment. Custom procedures are particularly cumbersome and inefficient at the borders to non-EU member states. Nevertheless, the Baltic States and Poland have relative strengths in efficiency of domestic transport/logistics, cost-efficiency of trucking industry, and price-competitive port operation. The report various recommendations for strategic policy priorities for the Baltic States and Poland to leverage their own strengths to respond to various opportunities and challenges.
This paper looks at the existing tools and approaches most commonly used in developed and developing countries to review the stock of regulations. The tools reviewed can generate benefits in the short term, but they are most effective as part of a longer-term sustained initiative. This paper has a particular focus on the challenges that arise from their use in emerging and developing countries. The objectives of this paper include: 1) explaining the rationale for the use of these tools and approaches; 2) discussing each one of them in a succinct way; 3) considering the extent to which these tools can support more systemic regulatory reforms in the medium and long terms; and 4) considering the particular challenges and opportunities regarding their use in developing and emerging economies. Section one is a brief description of the rationale and context for applying tools and approaches to review the stock of regulation. It includes a reference to benefits and preconditions to make use of these tools. It also presents a categorization of the most commonly used tools and a comparative table on the way these tools can be applied. Section two presents a description of each of the different tools and approaches available, and discusses the way they are used and their main components. It includes references to international experiences in which these tools have been integrated into the regulatory reform process. Section three presents preliminary commentary about some of the potential advantages, disadvantages, and impacts of using these tools and approaches in developing countries. Some particular cases are presented to illustrate these trends. The section also includes a short description of the sequence observed in the use of some of these tools. Moreover, this section illustrates how these tools can (or cannot) generate gains in the short term and also provide a basis for further and broader regulatory reform programs.
In this first working paper the authors present and compare systems of indicators of regulatory quality, analyzing their conceptual underpinnings, technical properties, and usage by governments, stakeholders and academics. After having discussed the datasets and the types of data available, they authors consider a set of critical aspects related to the design, data gathering and utilization of indicators, providing suggestions for improvement. The authors' major findings and proposals are the following: systems of indicators have been developed ad hoc, by organizations pursuing different objectives over time and across the world. Conceptual underpinnings, modalities of data-gathering, and types of usage reflect different operationalizations of regulatory quality. In the construction of regulatory indicator datasets, the first essential step is to gauge the quality of data, in order to construct insightful and meaningful measurements. Especially in developing countries, the consideration of the quality of data is preliminary to any technical and statistical discussion on how to treat data. Western governments tend to use single measures with the specific purpose of improving methods of regulatory analysis (through studies that analyze the conduct of regulators). The authors have not found systematic attempts to measure how regulatory reform is changing the attitudes towards regulation of regulators and policy officers who develop legislation. Aggregation should reflect basic technical rules, but more importantly, it should be performed in a way that conveys messages to those who are supposed to make use of the composite measures. To illustrate, if the goals of regulatory reform are institutionalization, economic growth, accountability, interaction with the stakeholders and communication, aggregation should be performed along these four dimensions, not in relation to abstract technical properties.
This paper argues that global imbalances in current account positions are a natural consequence of globalization of financial markets and of demographic trends, particularly in Europe and in East Asia. Those societies are aging rapidly, with declining numbers of young adults. On both counts savings should be high and investment weak, resulting in excess saving. With globalization of capital markets, this excess saving will naturally seek secure investment opportunities abroad. The U.S. economy, where demographic trends are markedly different (due in part to immigration of young adults), offers a good combination of yield, liquidity, and security for this excess savings, which in time will be liquidated to finance consumption in old age. Thus the large 'imbalance' does not obviously reflect disequilibria in the world economy, but rather a current phase of intertemporal trade.
En l'actual situació de creixement continuat de la població mundial, la producció suficient d'aliments no pot ser garantida sense l'ús de productes fitosanitaris (PF). No obstant, el seu ús no resta exempt de notables dificultats com l'elevat cost dels programes de lluita química pel control de les plagues i malalties que, en el cas de la fructicultura i la viticultura, representen fins al 30% dels costos totals de producció. A més a més, l'ús de PF comporta riscs importants per la salut humana i el medi ambient. A tot això, s'hi ha de sumar la creixent desconfiança, quan no el rebuig, d'amplis sectors de la societat. Per tal de reduir el seu impacte, la Comissió Europea mitjançant el pacte verd i, en concret, a través de l'estratègia de la granja a la taula, pretén reduir el consum i el risc associat als PF en un 50% en l'any 2030. En aquest context, són necessàries eines cientificotècniques validades per reduir de les dosis a les mínimes imprescindibles sense comprometre la collita. En aquesta Tesi es presenta i valida el sistema d'ajuda a la presa de decisió DOSA3D, el qual permet ajustar el volum de caldo i la dosi de PF en cultius arboris (cultius 3D) a partir de les característiques del cultiu (àrea foliar objectiu i geometria ), el polvoritzador i la plaga o malaltia a controlar. La validació del sistema DOSA3D s'ha dut a terme en tractaments uniformes i en tractaments zonals en base a mapes de vigor atenent a dos criteris, les deposicions sobre l'objectiu tractat i l'eficàcia en el control de plagues i malalties. En base a això, les hipòtesis contrastades han estat: i) el "Leaf Area Index" (LAI) o índex d'àrea foliar (paràmetre més rellevant per l'ajust de la dosis) és estimat correctament a partir de la geometria de la vegetació i de l'estat fenològic de la vinya; ii) l'eficiència del tractament calculada mitjançant el sistema DOSA3D s'ajusta a la realitat operativa dels tractaments; iii) la deposició a les fulles és un paràmetre que es relaciona bé amb l'eficàcia biològica del tractament; iv) el volum de caldo establert pel sistema DOSA3D permet obtenir deposicions similars a l'objectiu llindar (1.2 µl cm-2) i, conseqüentment, obtenir l'eficàcia adequada; i, v) el tractament zonal de la vinya a partir de mapes de vigor, ajustant la dosi mitjançant el sistema DOSA3D, permet assolir deposicions optimes i l'eficàcia biològica esperada en els diferents vigors. El cos de la Tesi Doctoral es divideix en tres blocs. El primer està dedicat a la revisió de l'estat de l'art en matèria d'expressió i l'ajustament de la dosi i a la comparació entre els diferents sistemes existents per a la presa de decisió en l'ajustament de la dosi. El segon bloc de la Tesi inclou dos capítols dedicats als fonaments del sistema DOSA3D i a la seva validació en el cultiu de la de vinya. això Amb aquesta finalitat, s'han practicat defoliacions de trams de vinyes en espatllera, donant-se per vàlid el model d'estimació del LAI del sistema DOSA3D vinyes de fins a 1.25 m d'amplada. També, mitjançant la metodologia descrita a la norma ISO 22522:2007, s'ha determinat la deposició foliar en tractaments ajustats, posant-se de manifest la marcada tendència a la uniformització de les deposicions en la mesura que incrementa el LAI. També, el sistema DOSA3D ha estat validat al llarg de tota la campanya per l'eficàcia en el control de l'oïdi (Erysiphe necator Schw.) en quatre assajos independents en els que les dosis de PF s'han reduït fins al 60% respecte a l'estratègia realitzada per l'agricultor. En el tercer bloc s'han validat els tractaments zonals a dosis ajustades mitjançant el sistema DOSA3D en vinyes espacialment variables. Mitjançant l'índex de vigor "Plant Cell Density" (PCD), establert a partir d'imatges multiespectrals adquirides des d'un avió, s'han confeccionat mapes de dos vigors i els consegüents mapes de prescripció. En tots els casos, la deposició foliar no ha presentat diferencies significatives entre classes de vigor i l'eficàcia dels tractaments en el control del àcar groc (Eotetranychus carpini Oud.) i el mosquit verd (Empoasca vitis G. y Jacobiasca lybica Berg. & Zanon) ha permès situar la densitat de la plaga per sota dels llindars econòmics de danys en ambdues classes de vigor, comportant estalvis de PF entre el 16,6 i el 24,8% en les zones de baix vigor. Les conclusions obtingudes en la present Tesi Doctoral proporcionen les evidències cientificotècniques necessàries per utilitzar el sistema DOSA3D de manera sanitàriament segura (garantint l'eficàcia biològica). El sistema es mostra com una eina a ser considerada pels seus efectes beneficiosos per part dels agents interessats (agricultors, assessors en sanitat vegetal, indústria química, constructors d'equips de tractaments i autoritats reguladores) així com per la seva contribució a la consecució dels objectius de la Comissió Europea en matèria de reducció de l'ús dels PF. ; En la situación de crecimiento continuado de la población mundial, la producción suficiente de alimentos no puede ser garantizada sin los productos fitosanitarios (PF). No obstante, su empleo no está exento de graves dificultades como el elevado coste de los programas de lucha química contra las plagas y enfermedades que, para el caso de la producción frutal y el viñedo, pueden representar hasta el 30% del total de los costes de producción. Además, el uso de PF conlleva riesgos importantes para la salud humana y el medio ambiente. A todo ello hay que añadir la desconfianza creciente, cuando no el rechazo, de amplias capas de la sociedad en relación a los PF. Para reducir su impacto, la Comisión Europea mediante el pacto verde y, en concreto, a través de la estrategia de la granja a la mesa, pretende reducir el consumo y el riesgo asociado a los PF en un 50% para el año 2030. En este contexto, se hacen necesarias herramientas científico-técnicas validadas para el ajuste de las dosis a las mínimas imprescindibles sin comprometer la cosecha. En esta Tesis se presenta y valida el sistema de ayuda a la toma de decisión DOSA3D, el cual permite ajustar el volumen de caldo y la dosis de PF en cultivos arbóreos (o cultivos 3D) a partir de las características del cultivo (área foliar objetivo y geometría), el pulverizador y la plaga o enfermedad a controlar. La validación del sistema DOSA3D se ha llevado a cabo en tratamientos uniformes y en tratamientos zonales en base a mapas de vigor atendiendo a dos criterios, las deposiciones sobre el objetivo tratado y la eficacia en el control de plagas y enfermedades. A tal fin, las hipótesis contrastadas han sido: i) el Leaf Area Index (LAI) o índice de área foliar (parámetro más relevante para el ajuste de la dosis) es estimado correctamente a partir de la geometría de la vegetación y del estado fenológico del viñedo; ii) la eficiencia del pulverizador calculada mediante el sistema DOSA3D se ajusta a la realidad operativa de los tratamientos; iii) la deposición en hojas es un parámetro que se relaciona bien con la eficacia biológica del tratamiento; iv) el volumen de caldo establecido por el sistema DOSA3D permite obtener deposiciones similares al objetivo umbral (1.2 µl cm-2) y, consecuentemente, conseguir la eficacia adecuada; y, v) el tratamiento zonal en viñedo a partir de mapas de vigor, ajustando la dosis mediante el sistema DOSA3D, permite alcanzar deposiciones óptimas y la eficacia biológica esperada en los distintos vigores. El cuerpo de la Tesis se divide en tres bloques. El primero está dedicado a la revisión del estado del arte en materia de la expresión y ajuste de la dosis y a la comparación entre los diferentes sistemas al uso para el ajuste de la dosis. El segundo bloque de la tesis incluye dos capítulos dedicados a los fundamentos del sistema DOSA3D y a su validación en viñedo. Para ello se han practicado defoliaciones de tramos de vides en espaldera, dándose por válido el modelo de estimación del LAI del sistema DOSA3D para espalderas de hasta 1.25 m de anchura. Asimismo, mediante la norma ISO 22522:2007, se ha determinado la deposición foliar, lo que ha puesto de manifiesto la tendencia marcada a la homogenización de las deposiciones en la medida que incrementa el LAI. También, el sistema DOSA3D ha sido validado a lo largo de toda la campaña por eficacia en el control de oídio (Erysiphe necator Schw.) en cuatro ensayos independientes en los que se ha reducido la dosis entre 0% y 60% respecto a la aplicada por el agricultor. En el tercer bloque se han validado los tratamientos zonales a dosis ajustadas mediante el sistema DOSA3D en viñedos espacialmente variables. Mediante el índice de vigor Plant Cell Density (PCD), establecido a partir de imágenes multiespectales adquiridas desde avión, se han confeccionado mapas de clasificación zonal en dos vigores y el consiguiente mapa de prescripción. La deposición foliar no ha presentado diferencias significativas entre clases de vigor y la eficacia de los tratamientos en el control de ácaro amarillo (Eotetranychus carpini Oud.) y mosquito verde (Empoasca vitis G. y Jacobiasca lybica Berg. & Zanon) han permitido situar la densidad de las plagas por debajo de los umbrales económicos de daño en ambas clases de vigor, comportando ahorros de PF entre el 16.6 y el 24.8% en las zonas de bajo vigor. ; In the current situation of a growing world population, it is not possible to ensure the production of sufficient food without phytosanitary products (PPs). However, their use has considerable drawbacks such as high costs of chemical control programs against pests and diseases. For instance, in the integrated pest control strategies implemented in orchards and vineyards they may represent up to 30% of the total production costs. Furthermore, the use of PPs can pose important risks to human health and to the environment. In addition, broad sectors of society increasingly distrust and reject the use of PPs. In order to reduce the negative impacts of PPs, the European Union developed the green deal and, through the implementation of the "from farm to fork" strategy, aims to reach a 50% reduction of the consumption and risks associated to PPs for the year 2030. In this context, reliable scientific and technical tools are needed to allow adjustment of application doses to the minimum doses required for effective control, that is without reducing the harvest. Throughout this thesis, the DOSA3D decision support system is presented and validated, this system allows to adjust the volume and dose rates of the PPs for fruit crops (3D crops) according to the characteristics of the crop (leaf area and geometry), the sprayer and the target pest or disease. The validation of the DOSA3D system has been carried out for both uniform applications and zonal applications based on vigour maps, according to the following two criteria: on-target product deposition and efficacy of pest and disease control. In order to do so, the following hypothesis were tested: i) the LAI or leaf area index (the most relevant parameter for adjusting the dose) is estimated correctly from the geometry of the vegetation and the phenological stages of the vineyard; ii) the efficiency of the sprayer, calculated by means of the DOSA3D system is adjusted to the operational reality of the applications; iii) deposition on leaves is a parameter that correlates well to the biological efficacy of the application; iv) the volume rate established by the DOSA3D system allows to obtain leaf depositions close to the objective threshold (1.2 µl cm-2) and, consequently, achieve the appropriate efficacy; and v) the zonal application in vineyards based on vigour maps, after adjusting the dose by means of the DOSA3D system, allows to achieve optimal depositions and therefore the expected biological efficacy for the different vigour zones. The body of this thesis is divided into three parts. The first part consists of a revision of the state of the art regarding dose expression and adjustment and different existing dose adjustment decision support systems. The second part of the thesis includes two chapters dedicated to the technical rationale of the DOSA3D system and its validation in vineyards. Sections along the vine trellis were defoliated in order to validate the LAI estimation model of the DOSA3D system for trellises up to 1.25 m wide. Likewise, the ISO standard 22522:2007 was used to determine the foliar deposition, this evidenced a marked tendency to the homogenisation of the depositions as LAI increases. In addition, the DOSA3D system has been validated throughout the entire season for the control of powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator Schw.), in four independent trials in which the dose was reduced up to 60%, compared to the doses used by the farmer. In the third part of the thesis, the DOSA3D system is validated for zonal applications of adjusted doses in spatially variable vineyards. Zonal classification maps, and the corresponding prescription maps, were built based on the Plant Cell Density (PCD) vigour index, established from aerial multispectral images. Leaf deposition did not present significant differences between vigour classes and the reduced-dose applications for control of yellow spider-mite (Eotetranychus carpini Oud.) and leafhoppers (Empoasca vitis G. and Jacobiasca lybica Berg. & Zanon) allowed to reduce pest density bellow the economic damage thresholds in both vigour classes, resulting in PPs reductions between 16.6 and 24.8% in low vigour zones. The conclusions reached in this thesis provide the scientific and technical evidences required for the safe use of the DOSA3D system for delivery of reliable control of pests and diseases. The system has proved to be a useful tool due to its benefits for stakeholders (farmers, advisors in plant protection, the chemical industry, constructors of application equipment and regulatory authorities) and its contribution to the achievement of European Commission objectives regarding reduction in the use of PPs.
