The BIOCOMES (‘Biological control manufacturers in Europe develop novel biological control products to support the implementation of Integrated Pest Management in agriculture and forestry’) project is aiming to deliver at least 11 new biological products to control significant diseases and pests over the coming years. With the project, which brings together 27 business and research partners from 14 different countries, passing the halfway point, ENDURE spoke to BIOCOMES coordinator Jürgen Köhl (pictured right) from Wageningen UR in the Netherlands.
ENDURE: With the BIOCOMES project passing the halfway point, how is it progressing?
Jürgen Köhl: “BIOCOMES is on track. Of course, teams developing the different new biocontrol products faced some problems. This is not unexpected in research and development in the field of the complex interactions between pests and diseases and their antagonists. Problems ranged from the unforeseen behaviour of antagonists under specific conditions to losses of field trials due to unfavourable weather conditions. The teams anticipated such problems and most are solved. In some cases we are even ahead of the schedule. For example, antagonistic nematodes used for control of Diabrotica in maize and other pests have been improved by breeding to achieve better shelf life and high efficacy. The collaboration of three partners has already resulted in new superior nematode strains.”
ENDURE: BIOCOMES has a very interesting mix of SMEs, larger industry partners and research institutes. What advantages does this create?
Jürgen Köhl: “We need new biocontrol solutions for commercial use in Integrated Pest Management in European agriculture and forestry. To achieve this goal, we need both top science and commercial thinking. In BIOCOMES, we created teams for each targeted pest or disease. The industries know the market demands and define the research needs. The researchers know the biology of pests and diseases and their antagonists and provide the solutions. I have experienced very fruitful interactions between science and industry in the different teams and increasingly also between the teams.”
ENDURE: Could partnerships like this work in other IPM research contexts?
Jürgen Köhl: “Such partnerships will be fruitful wherever technologies are developed which need progress in fundamental and applied science to be linked to practical solutions. In the field of IPM, all kind of tools are developed by scientists and integrated in productions systems by industries. It is obvious that using the expertise from providers and users of such tools guarantees a better final implementation. For such partnerships, listening to the different partners and understanding their needs and possibilities is essential.”
ENDURE: When the project finishes at the end of 2017, what products can we expect?
Jürgen Köhl: “We are developing 11 different biocontrol products. Some are from scratch, while some other agents were known at the beginning of the project and are being further developed. We target key pests and diseases in European agriculture, horticulture and forestry. The emphasis is on open field crops where biological control is less used than in protected greenhouse crops. We are also developing two new production technologies for biocontrol products: insect-pathogenic viruses and insect-pathogenic nematodes. This will result in cost-effective production for use on huger acreages. The progress of our work can easily be followed on our website www.biocomes.eu and in our newsletters.
“Some products will be ready for use at the end of the project. Others will need further development, especially those which require registration as plant protection products. This is a costly time-consuming process. The biocontrol industry will invest in registration and market introduction for the promising products.”
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Last update: 24/05/2023 - ENDURE © 2009 - Contact ENDURE - Disclaimer