All the news

• IPM researchers connect in Wageningen
  

  More than 150 participants from 25 countries discussed the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) during the 10th conference of the European Foundation for Plant Pathology 'IPM 2.0 – Towards future-proof crop protection in Europe'. The conference took place 1-5 October 2012 in Wageningen, the Netherlands. It was the first multidisciplinary research conference on the new European Union (EU) policy to increase IPM in European member states via National Action Plans. Participants discussed a number of aspects of the implementation of IPM principles.

• Country profile: Switzerland
  

  In the fourth of our country profiles we examine Switzerland, a nation which first turned to Integrated Pest Management more than 40 years ago and has now developed Integrated Production and a system of direct payments to farmers for ecological services. As researchers Benno Graf, Jörg Samietz, Robert Baur and Thomas Steinger from Agroscope report, Swiss policy is focused on reducing the risks associated with pesticide use.

• IPM seminar in Estonia
  

  An international seminar on Integrated Pest Management and National Action Plans is being organised by the Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists in Tallinn, Estonia, on November 7th and 8th. With the deadline for the completion of National Action Plans set for December 2012, alongside the mainstreaming of IPM principles by 2014, these topics are generating much attention and it is not too late to register.

• Brussels looks at IPM yesterday, today, tomorrow
  

  Two European-level meetings addressing current challenges in crop protection took place in Brussels on June 19 and 20, 2012, providing the opportunity to take a hard look at pesticide use and Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The diverse audiences delved deep into history, took broad sweeps at the current situation, and had conflicting views on what the future directions ought to be. ENDURE participated in both meetings. We report here on the diverse and at times opposing views.

• Update from ENDURE task leader Piet Boonekamp
  

  While European Commission funding of ENDURE may have ended in 2010, nearly all partners decided to continue in this important European network of crop protection research, university and extension groups. And continuation is extremely important as the ambition of the Directive 2009/128/EC demands challenging research to revive and rejuvenate the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) concept from decades ago, writes Piet Boonekamp, one of ENDURE’s task leaders.

• Country profile: France
  

  In the third of our country profiles we examine France, where the ambitious challenge has been set of halving pesticide use nationally over the course of 10 years. In this article, Philippe Delval, an ENDURE participant working at ACTA, the ‘Network for Innovative Research in Agriculture’, and Marco Barzman, ENDURE’s Scientific Officer, examine Ecophyto 2018, France’s National Action Plan.

• New project takes global tack on invasive pests
  

  Researchers from across the globe seeking to control two invasive pests causing major damage to tomato and fruit crops are set to benefit from a new project, proposed by ENDURE and funded under the European Commission’s FP7 International Research Staff Exchange programme.

• Advisers: join online forum to share IPM knowledge
  

  Following April’s ENDURE Network of Advisers workshop in Paris, France, VfL, the Danish Agricultural Knowledge Centre, has created an online forum to enable farm advisers to share knowledge, results and experiences to tackle pest control challenges and improve their Integrated Pest Management practices.

• Latest update on ENDURE scientific papers
  

  The list of ENDURE papers accepted for publication in scientific journals has been updated. This year's papers cover topics such as multi-criteria assessment tools, landscape ecology, consumer willingness to pay for IPM, virulence dynamics of pathogens and deployment of host resistance, and biofumigation.

• Sign up: ENDURE summer school on agroecology
  

  ENDURE is conducting its fourth Summer School October 7-12, 2012 in Volterra, Italy. The five-day course will focus on ‘Agroecological engineering for crop protection’ and will bring together up to 20 PhD-level students. To ensure diversity among participating students, ENDURE is offering three grants covering local expenses (food, lodging and participation in the course) – travel costs are not covered. Read on if you wish to participate…