A raft of useful Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools are now available from the PURE research project, including booklets summarising PURE's experimental work and e-learning presentations designed to aid the implementation of IPM solutions.
PURE concentrated on six key European farming systems - field vegetables, grapevine, maize, pomefruit, protected crops and wheat - in which reducing pesticide use and better pest control will have major effects.
For each system, PURE combined existing methods with new tools and technologies to produce novel IPM solutions addressing the biological, agronomical and economical diversity in Europe. For these systems, researchers followed a cycle of design-assessment-adjustment to ensure continuous validation and improvement of the IPM solutions.
The fruits of this work are now available on the PURE website. For example, for winter wheat-based cropping systems, six e-learning tools are available:
These are supported by a booklet containing IPM Guidelines. For wheat, options include the introduction of greater crop diversity in the rotation in order to minimise pest pressure and the use of variety mixtures, though researchers note that the latter option requires efforts to convince seed companies and retailers to devote more attention to this subject.
Similarly, for maize-based systems, researchers have produced an e-learning slideshow with 22 slides useful for training trainers on their results. These include mechanical weed control, for which correct timing, experience and appropriate machinery are essential, and results showing that the need for insecticide applications against soil pests is rare and monitoring methods reliable, thereby offering farmers a route to improving profitability while reducing the crop's environmental impact.
Other items now available on the PURE website include various reports concerning IPM assessment and methodology, pest evolution and enhancement of the durability of IPM solutions, plant-pest-enemy interactions, ecological engineering, emerging technologies and co-innovation.
For a complete guide to the recently added items, download the fourth PURE Annual Newsletter:
Alternatively, follow the links below to go directly to the IPM Guidelines and e-learning material for specific cropping systems:
Cropping system | Material available |
Field vegetables (cabbage) | IPM Guidelines |
e-learning | |
Grapevine | IPM Guidelines |
e-learning | |
Maize-based systems | IPM Guidelines |
e-learning | |
Pomefruit | IPM Guidelines |
e-learning | |
Protected crops | IPM Guidelines |
Coming soon | |
Wheat-based systems | IPM Guidelines |
e-learning |
Last update: 24/05/2023 - ENDURE © 2009 - Contact ENDURE - Disclaimer