Diversifying crop protection

Latest news

• Disease resistance experts brought together
  

  The first annual meeting of the SUSTAIN (Pathogen-informed strategies for sustainable broad-spectrum crop resistance) Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action takes place this October, bringing together European scientists and breeders seeking to translate breakthroughs in plant-pathogen interaction research into effective breeding strategies for durable disease resistance in cereal and Solanaceous crops.

• Global project launched to tackle invasive pests
  

  A new project has been launched to promote the development of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices for the sustainable control of the leafminer Tuta absoluta and the spotted wing fly Drosophila suzukii, invasive pests of tomato and fruit crops respectively.

• Candidates sought for agroecology summer school
  

  Candidates for the fourth International Summer School in Agroecology (ISSAE), being held at the Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique in Toulouse, south-west France, have until May 30 to complete their application.

• Priority IPM research needs identified
  

  A European team of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) experts has completed a preliminary analysis of the most urgent research and extension needs for accelerating the development of IPM across the European Union.

• Review: Non-chemical weed control in arable crops
  

  A pan-European group of weed specialists has examined the possibilities for using non-chemical methods for weed control in reduced tillage arable systems. The review covers the redesigning of cropping systems, cover crops, stubble management strategies, tactics to strengthen crop growth relative to weed growth and direct mechanical weed control methods. Lead author Bo Melander, of Denmark’s Aarhus University, explains more:

• Advisers test learning approaches
  

  In the quest to provide agricultural advisers with new tools to accompany a reduction in pesticide use, the New Advisers project has tested three learning approaches in eight European countries. The results of these trials are now being analysed and, eventually, instructional manuals and videos will be produced to encourage their wider use.

• Meeting: Induced resistance in plants
  

  Making the leap from success in the laboratory to success in the field will be the theme of the sixth meeting of the IOBC’s ‘Induced resistance in plants against insects and diseases’ working group.

• INRA holds international Fusarium seminar
  

  INRA's Mycology and Food Safety research unit is organising the 12th European Fusarium Seminar to be held in Bordeaux May 12-16, 2013. The conference brings together researchers, breeders, industry representatives, and policy makers concerned by Fusarium diseases and the reduction of mycotoxins in cereals. It provides an international forum to address the current state of the art in Fusarium biology and crop resistance breeding.

• New site supports French NAP
  

  The French Ministry of Agriculture has launched a website dedicated to bringing together references and knowledge on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in order to help educate farmers, advisers and trainers.

• ENDURE foresight study goes global
  

  The work of ENDURE’s foresight study team has been presented to the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) as part of GFAR’s effort to produce a global report on foresight for impact.