All the news

• ‘Bright future’ for biocontrol
  

  A recent edition of the European Commission’s Science for Environment Policy fact sheet (‘Natural enemies of crop pests will feature in the future of environmentally friendly farming’) focuses on a review conducted by an international team of experts of the current state of biological control and the measures which could help accelerate its development and use.

• New app tackles overseas crop protection
  

  Sustainable crop protection for vegetable crops and tropical tubers in France’s numerous overseas communities has been given a boost with the launch of Tropilég, an application addressing health problems in a broad range of crops.

• Understanding ecosystem services
  

  Knowledge on the importance of ecosystem services has been further enhanced with the completion of two projects focusing on the topic. The pan-European QuESSA (Quantification of Ecological Services for Sustainable Agriculture) project has presented its findings in a brochure summarising its work and recommendations, while a team from INRA (France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research) has presented its results on the ecosystem services provided by agriculture as part of the country’s EFESE programme (Evaluation Française des Écosystèmes et des Services Écosystémiques).

• New databases added to French IPM portal
  

  Two new databases have been added to EcophytoPIC, France’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) portal, one covering beneficials, pests and physiological and climatic incidents and the other bringing together more than 50 years of ACTA’s phytosanitary index, providing information on which pesticides have been used and for what purpose since 1961.

• PPP sellers to push alternatives
  

  France’s bold scheme to transform distributors of plant protection products into ‘agents of change’, encouraging their customers to use alternatives to synthetic chemical products, is underway. Under the scheme, distributors are obliged to drive the move towards more sustainable crop protection, earning Certificats d’Economie de Produits Phytopharmaceutiques (CEPP or pesticide savings certificates) for prompting clients to use a range of officially approved alternatives.

• IPM options for oilseed rape
  

  ENDURE’s German partner, the Julius Kühn Institute, hosted the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation’s two and a half day workshop addressing Integrated Management of Insect Pests in Oilseed Rape (OSR), attracting nearly 80 participants to its site in Berlin.

• Dual control to beat blight
  

  Researchers at Rothamsted Research, one of ENDURE’s two UK partners, have used computer modelling drawing on classical population genetics theory to confirm that “combining methods of disease control rather than relying on a single resistance strategy can extend the durability of crops by many years.”

• New book: Agroecological Crop Protection
  

  In what the publishers say is the first monograph on the subject, 56 authors have contributed to a new book applying the principles of agroecology to crop protection. Called Agroecological Crop Protection, the book’s editors include Jean-Noël Aubertot, from France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), and Jean-Philippe Deguine and Alain Ratnadass, from CIRAD, who are contributing to next year’s five-day training course on the subject.

• DiverIMPACTS: 25 case studies underway
  

  Work is underway in the five-year DiverIMPACTS project (Diversification through Rotation, Intercropping, Multiple Cropping, Promoted with Actors and value-Chains towards Sustainability), which is exploring the full potential of diversifying cropping systems with the aim of improving agricultural productivity, resource efficiency and sustainable value chains.

• Crop loss conference: presentations online
  

  The keynote presentations and extended abstracts from October’s three-day International Conference on Global Crop Losses Caused by Diseases, Pests and Weeds are now available. The event was organised by INRA, through its SMaCH (Sustainable Management of Crop Health) and GloFoodS (Transitions to Global Food Security) metaprogrammes, and in partnership with CIRAD and ISPP (International Society of Plant Pathology).