Global Plant Protection News

Welcome to the 32nd edition of ENDURE News, the electronic newsletter from ENDURE. Please feel free to share this newsletter with colleagues.

• IPM works and IPMWORKS will show how!
  A European-wide network of farms is being constructed in order to “demonstrate and promote cost-effective strategies on Integrated Pest Management (IPM)”. Called IPMWORKS, the four-year Horizon 2020 project was launched in October and brings together 31 partners from 16 countries. The project will be developing an online IPM resource toolbox for farmers, advisers and researchers to easily search, share and discuss IPM reources and you can help out by completing a short survey.
  
  
• Survey: Agroecology initiatives in Europe
  Agroecology Europe has produced its first report mapping a large number of agroecological initiatives across Europe, allowing it to identify key findings and recommendations for fostering agroecology around the continent.
• DiverIMPACTS: Be inspired by success stories
  DiverIMPACTS, the project striving “to achieve the full diversification potential of cropping systems for improved productivity, delivery of ecosystem services and resource-efficient and sustainable value chains”, has published a series of success stories to inspire further diversification.
• IHAR joins forces for late blight study
  Poland’s Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR) has joined forces with the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research to broaden knowledge “on plant diseases and the factors influencing resistance or susceptibility to pathogens”. In particular, they will be focusing on potato and the economically important disease which affects crops worldwide, potato late blight (pictured right).
• Magazine gives insights into Agroscope research
  Agroscope, ENDURE’s Swiss partner, has launched a magazine to better share the topics it is working on. Available in English, French and German, the magazine provides concrete examples of its work, alongside interviews with key researchers and access to further sources of information such as videos and other publications.
• ReMIX: Updates from the teams
  The next challenge for the ReMIX project (Species mixtures for redesigning European cropping systems) has been unveiled by the team’s coordinators. Writing in the project’s third newsletter, they highlight the importance of winning the support of policy makers in increasing the adoption of intercropping.
• 5 principles for Scottish plant health
  Scotland has launched five key principles to protect the country’s plant health. Scotland’s Plant Health Centre published the principles to mark the United Kingdom’s Plant Health Week, which is itself part of the United Nations’ International Year of Plant Health.
• UK launches centre for tomorrow’s food experts
  Rothamsted Research is joining forces with eight other universities and research institutes in the United Kingdom to create a joint PhD training centre focused on “developing the next generation of interdisciplinary food systems experts”.
• Downy mildew breakthrough
  French researchers believe new control methods for grapevine downy mildew (pictured right) are a realistic prospect after managing to identify the group of genes involved in its sexual reproduction. It is the first time these genes have been identified in oomycetes, reports France’s INRAE.
• Catch up with Agroecology Europe
  The latest edition of the newsletter from Agroecology Europe is now available. It includes the association’s position on the European Commission’s From Farm to Fork and biodiversity strategies, details of 2021’s 3rd Agroecology Europe forum and news from around the continent, including a feature on an innovative Belgian farmer.
• Real-life nature-based IPM
  The latest electronic newsletter from Agricology, a community bringing farmers and researchers together to share knowledge in pursuit of “practical sustainable farming regardless of labels”, includes an interesting feature on UK farmer Martin Lines, chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network.
• Intercropping event to go virtual
  DECEMBER update: The organisers of next year’s Intercropping for Sustainability conference have opted for a virtual event via Zoom. Organisers had pledged to remain flexible about the format for the event, which was scheduled to be held at the UK’s University of Reading on January 19th and 20th.
• Mixtures no ‘silver bullet’ to resistance
  Current efforts to stop the spread of resistance through the use of pesticide mixtures might sometimes “be doing as much harm as good”, says ENDURE partner Rothamsted Research.
• DIVERSify: Watch and learn!
  The DIVERSify project has launched a mini-series “exploring the benefits and challenges of cultivating crop mixtures as an alternative to monoculture”. The series is called Growing Beyond Monoculture and currently consists of three episodes.
• PPPs in Swiss field crops: Use and aquatic risks
  Researchers at Agroscope, ENDURE’s Swiss partner, have completed a study examining the use and risk of plant protection products (PPPs) in the country’s field crops over a period of 10 years. They conclude that decreasing amounts of PPPs are being used in the country but show that quantity alone does not determine the risk to the environment.
• Events calendar: Check it out!
  After the difficulties of staging events in 2020, a slew of conferences and meetings have been rescheduled for 2021, and some events, both new and reorganised, are including the possibility of virtual attendance or even introducing back-up plans that will allow organisers to move meetings to online-only events at short notice.
• IWMPRAISE: Latest newsletter now available
  IWMPRAISE (Integrated Weed Management: PRActical Implementation and Solutions for Europe) has produced its fourth newsletter, bringing readers up to date with the latest news from the Horizon 2020 project. The project is now entering its fourth and penultimate year and 2020 should have seen the finalisation of experiments and a plethora of workshops and open days, activities which were rendered impossible by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• To find out more about ENDURE, visit: www.endure-network.eu
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