A new European project has been launched to boost the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on farms across Europe. Called C-IPM (Coordinated Integrated Pest Management), the project brings together 32 organisations from 21 countries and is being backed with almost €2 million through the European Commission's ERA-NET scheme.
ERA-NETs typically aim to set a strategic research agenda and organise and implement transnational calls, with the synergies created boosting the effectiveness of research efforts. C-IPM will be doing this and putting special emphasis on knowledge transfer and extension, said C-IPM coordinator Antoine Messéan (INRA, France's National Institute for Agricultural Research) at the project launch. This emphasis is necessary, he explained, because IPM is a dynamic and continuous process which needs to be adapted to local agroecosystems and implementation involves a wide range of actors, including farmers and extension services.
C-IPM's strategic research agenda will take inspiration from the earlier work of the Collaborative Working Group (CWG) on IPM, working under the umbrella of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR), which was launched in 2011 and identified 13 key priority research needs for accelerating the development of IPM. You can read more about the work of the SCAR CWG on IPM here.
Objectives
C-IPM's overall goal is to ensure a higher level of IPM implementation across Europe by creating synergies from national investments in research and extension, from European initiatives, and from private sector activities in the areas of IPM and minor uses. The preliminary work carried out in the SCAR CWG on IPM highlighted the feasibility of generating added value via joint activities that range from information sharing and the creation of knowledge hubs to the development of joint transnational actions.
Its specific goals are to:
Mapping and scoping activities
C-IPM will have various mapping and scoping activities, including:
Based on these mapping activities, C-IPM will translate their outcomes into research and development needs and identify concrete R&D joint activities within C-IPM.
Joint calls
C-IPM will adapt instruments, mechanisms and processes according to other ERA-NET experiences to enable common calls, common evaluation, and coordinated funding sources. Two transnational calls will be carried out during the course of C-IPM. The follow-up of funded projects after C-IPM will be prepared.
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