More news of projects launched under Coordinated Integrated Pest Management’s (C-IPM) first call is now available, providing details of plans to tackle hairy root disease in minor crops and mites in berries, soft fruits and woody ornamentals.
The C-IPM website explains how Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies can be a good approach to tackle the increasingly prevalent problem of hairy root disease in minor crops (tomato, cucumber and aubergine). Caused by the bacterium Rhizobium rhizogenes , hairy root disease hits yields and causes substantial economic losses in European horticulture.
Hairy root disease is particularly problematic as bacteria form a biofilm around the roots of plants and in the irrigation system. These biofilms are difficult to remove because they provide a niche in which microbes are protected against disinfectants and high concentrations of chemicals are required to remove them.
The main objective of the two-year, seven-partner project (known as C-RootControl) is to develop long-term and sustainable IPM solutions to reduce hairy root disease problems. Researchers will look at plant cultivation, biofilm in irrigation systems, and plant microflora.
More specifically, partners in the € 347,015 project are aiming to develop a reliable monitoring tool for rapid detection of hairy root disease and will screen for new biocontrol organisms, evaluate novel anti-biofilm compounds and investigate new cultivation techniques to reduce disease symptoms.
Researchers from four European countries will be tackling mites in the two-year UNIFORCE project, with a particular focus on harmful mites in minor crops such as blackberry, currant, raspberry, strawberry and azalea.
The mites in question - members of the Eriophydiae, Tetranychidae and Tarsonemidae families - cause galls, tissue damage, necrosis or distortion of growing points, and are so small they are difficult to monitor until crop damage is conspicuous, reports C-IPM.
The five-partner project has a budget of €510,443, which will allow researchers from Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Spain to increase our knowledge of these harmful mites in minor crops.
The goal is to develop in-field solutions by focusing on the interactions between the plant, pest and pest control, explains C-IPM. The project partners will characterise mites via experience, field surveys and literature. They will optimise sampling techniques to allow fast early detection and monitoring and seek to identify natural enemies of the mite - including predatory mites - for potential use as biological control agents.
The spotlight will also be aimed at the plants that the mites target, says C-IPM. The plants’ defences, including the jasmonic acid and salicylic acid pathways, will be studied. Jasmonic acid plays a role in regulating plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses as well as plant growth and development, while salicylic acid is a plant hormone that plays a role in mediating plant defences against pathogens.
The project partners will also characterise the response of mites to these defence mechanisms, with the aim of integrating natural defences into biological control-based IPM. In addition, the project will study potential applications of plant volatiles.
The results from the studies will be summarised in a tool containing practical advice for growers on how to identify, monitor and control the most important mites in the target crops, adds the C-IPM website.
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