Following a break caused by Covid-19, Philippe Delval and Solène Batard from ACTA, France’s association of agricultural technical institutes, have hit the road, facilitating a series of thematic days across the country as part of the campaign to encourage the uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
In France, pesticide users and sellers and agricultural advisers require certification. This qualification is delivered through specialised trainers and the e-PIC programme targets these trainers through a three-pronged approach.
First, trainers must complete an online course. These courses are available for both beginners and more advanced learners and are seen as a good first step since online learning is flexible (available 24/7), practical (teaching material remains available after the course is completed) and can offer a wealth of information (resources and documents regularly updated).
Beginners are introduced to the principles of IPM (prevention, surveillance, decision making, alternative methods etc.) plus modules introducing them to systems approaches, the resources available for building their training programme and IPM in specific agricultural or non-agricultural sectors. More advanced learners can select modules addressing IPM in agricultural or non-agricultural sectors or a mix of the two and must complete courses on IPM in these sectors or courses addressing key IPM themes.
A new introduction in the e-PIC programme are winter videoconferences designed to introduce trainers in mainland France to the work being done in the country’s extensive experimentation systems and their results. Typically, facilitators establish the problem and its context, explain the experimentation being done, present the initial results and offer conclusions and examine future prospects. A second session seeks to encourage dialogue, with participants’ questions being addressed, specific points developed and discussions between participants encouraged.
Thematic days continue to play a central role in e-PIC and have now been boosted by the addition of serious games to their learning activities. Thematic days takes place across France and its overseas territories (Indian Ocean and French Caribbean events will be held later this year), addressing a particular sector. These include days dedicated, for example, to arable crops, vegetable production, viticulture and arboriculture.
Each day follows a similar pattern, with participants given regulatory updates, before hearing from actors who have been involved in IPM experimental activities. Participants then visit experimental or production sites before tackling learning activities.
To take a concrete example, in June Philippe and Solène welcomed participants to the Centre Technique Interprofessionel des Fruits et Légumes (CTIFL) at Balandran, southern France (pictured right), for a day dedicated to arboriculture.
This gave attendees from training organisations and Chambers of Agriculture the chance to learn first-hand about the ongoing experimentation work at CTIFL Balandra, which is part of France’s nationwide DEPHY experimental network.
Under the MIRAD project, for example, researchers are at the mid-stage of a five-year project trialling apricot production under two regimes. One is an organic approach, thereby reducing the Treatment Frequency Index (TFI) by 100% compared to conventional approaches, while a second is employing a range of IPM measures. The latter, named the ECO approach, is seeking a 75% reduction in TFI and the production of residue-free fruit.
The major levers being trialled are varietal resistance, physical barriers for weeds (soil cover using woven tarpaulin) and insect pests (netting and glues), mass trapping and hedging.
The Balandran applied research site also includes protected crops, field vegetables, three hectares of organic production and orchards. The latter includes the ALTO project, a mixed orchard containing an array of fruit trees where the focus is on functional biodiversity and the use of biocontrol products.
Alongside productive apricot, peach and olive trees, many apple trees (Opal, Story, Mandy and Garance varieties) have been planted, with fig, persimmon and Reine-Claude plum trees completing the mix in addition to kiwis and citrus fruits.
The idea is to stagger production over time using rustic species and varieties (resistance to apple scab, for example), to create a dilution effect due to broader spacing of trees and the creation of a barrier for other fruit species, and introducing aromatic plants as a food resource for beneficial insects and as a repellent. Green manure and flower strips have been sown and some sections of the orchard will continue to change as a result of other research, for example, the inclusion of service plants with a repellent effect against aphids.
Inspired by the tour of Balandran’s experimental work, participants then got to play a serious game (pictured top right). In the version used here, participants are encouraged to design an orchard of the future, with the aim of choosing a winning combination of possible levers for improved design. A similar serious game approach has also been taken in the IWMPRAISE project, which is focusing on Integrated Weed Management (IWM). You can read more and play the game by following the links below.
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Last update: 24/05/2023 - ENDURE © 2009 - Contact ENDURE - Disclaimer