All the news

• PPP sellers to push alternatives
  

  France’s bold scheme to transform distributors of plant protection products into ‘agents of change’, encouraging their customers to use alternatives to synthetic chemical products, is underway. Under the scheme, distributors are obliged to drive the move towards more sustainable crop protection, earning Certificats d’Economie de Produits Phytopharmaceutiques (CEPP or pesticide savings certificates) for prompting clients to use a range of officially approved alternatives.

• IPM options for oilseed rape
  

  ENDURE’s German partner, the Julius Kühn Institute, hosted the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation’s two and a half day workshop addressing Integrated Management of Insect Pests in Oilseed Rape (OSR), attracting nearly 80 participants to its site in Berlin.

• Dual control to beat blight
  

  Researchers at Rothamsted Research, one of ENDURE’s two UK partners, have used computer modelling drawing on classical population genetics theory to confirm that “combining methods of disease control rather than relying on a single resistance strategy can extend the durability of crops by many years.”

• New book: Agroecological Crop Protection
  

  In what the publishers say is the first monograph on the subject, 56 authors have contributed to a new book applying the principles of agroecology to crop protection. Called Agroecological Crop Protection, the book’s editors include Jean-Noël Aubertot, from France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), and Jean-Philippe Deguine and Alain Ratnadass, from CIRAD, who are contributing to next year’s five-day training course on the subject.

• DiverIMPACTS: 25 case studies underway
  

  Work is underway in the five-year DiverIMPACTS project (Diversification through Rotation, Intercropping, Multiple Cropping, Promoted with Actors and value-Chains towards Sustainability), which is exploring the full potential of diversifying cropping systems with the aim of improving agricultural productivity, resource efficiency and sustainable value chains.

• Crop loss conference: presentations online
  

  The keynote presentations and extended abstracts from October’s three-day International Conference on Global Crop Losses Caused by Diseases, Pests and Weeds are now available. The event was organised by INRA, through its SMaCH (Sustainable Management of Crop Health) and GloFoodS (Transitions to Global Food Security) metaprogrammes, and in partnership with CIRAD and ISPP (International Society of Plant Pathology).

• AgriSpin: Insights into innovation
  

  The AgriSpin project (Space for Innovation in Agriculture) has now been completed, with a closing conference on the Greek island of Crete providing participants with the opportunity to gain insights into methods for creating space for innovation.

• EuroBlight updates efficacy tables
  

  Ahead of the 2018 field season, EuroBlight, the European network of scientists and other specialists working on potato early and late blight, has updated its fungicide efficacy tables for control of these diseases.

• IPM toolboxes for key crops
  

  The James Hutton Institute (JHI), ENDURE’s Scottish partner, has launched online Integrated Pest Management (IPM) toolboxes for three of the country’s most important crops. The crop-specific toolboxes are accessible via the Institute’s IPM portal, which examines a series of IPM topics, such as biocontrol, landscape management and pest and pathogen detection and monitoring.

• Conference to mark 175 years
  

  The UK’s Rothamsted Research celebrates its 175th anniversary in 2018 and will be marking the occasion with a three-day conference dedicated to exploring the role of classical and other long-term experiments in agricultural science.