All the news

• 2nd Plant BioProTech set for 2019
  

  Following last year’s first Plant BioProTech international symposium held in France, a second edition is being planned for November 19 to 22, 2019, in Marrakech, Morocco. The organisers note: “The symposium brings together international researchers and industrials from different disciplines: plant-microbe interactions, plant physiology, molecular biology, pathology...Our Plant BioProTech symposium focuses on microorganisms and natural elicitors active on plant protection, and their impact on agricultural practices in the future.”

• Making the most of EcophytoPIC
  

  EcophytoPIC, France’s Integrated Pest Management portal, has introduced four news sections which make it simpler to keep up to date with fresh information on IPM. These sections are dedicated to summaries which offer one-page information on a technique, pest or event; dossiers providing complete and detailed information on a particular theme; news from the press and around the web; and a section enabling users to inform themselves on a particular innovation or IPM tool.

• Demonstration network up and running
  

  With the EUCLID project (Europe China Lever for IPM Demonstration) moving into its third year, 2018 has seen the debut of its Innovation Demonstration Network, which is seen as a crucial step as it takes innovative research work conducted in the lab to the field.

• Shifting to pesticide-free agriculture
  

  In preparation for the European Commission’s €100 billion Horizon Europe research and innovation framework programme, set to be launched in 2021, European institutes have come together with the ambitious target of moving towards chemical pesticide-free agriculture in Europe.

• New project targets sustainable agri systems
  

  A new European project has been launched to ‘develop and support ecologically, economically and socially sustainable crop production via stacking and protection of functional biodiversity’. Called EcoStack, the five-year Horizon 2020 project brings together 24 partners, including a handful of ENDURE partners who are leading three of the work packages.

• Potato app proves to be a hit
  

  The James Hutton Institute, ENDURE’s Scottish partner, has introduced a web-based version of its Buntata application. The application, originally only a free Android app, makes it possible to identify potato pests and diseases in the field.

• COLUMA 2019: Focus on weed control
  

  Végéphyl, France’s association for plant health formerly known as AFPP, has issued a call for communications for 2019’s COLUMA conference, an event held once every three years focusing on weed management.

• IBMA calls for regulatory shake-up
  

  The International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) has called on the European Union to establish a new regulatory organisation focused specifically on biocontrol in order to simplify and accelerate evaluations and approvals and thereby provide farmers with a greater range of options.

• Updated events calendar
  

  With locations as far flung as Canada, Japan and Malaysia (and, of course, Europe) and topics including agroecology, precision agriculture and biocontrol, our updated events calendar allows you to get ahead with planning your attendance at conferences and other events in 2019.

• New ID for AFPP and conference details
  

  AFPP, the French association for plant protection, has a new identity just ahead of this year’s 12th International Conference on Plant Diseases. From now, AFPP will be known as Végéphyl - Association pour la santé des végétaux (association for plant health).