Global Plant Protection News

ENDURE NEWS, Issue 36, December 2022

Welcome to the 36th edition of ENDURE News, the electronic newsletter from ENDURE. Please feel free to share this newsletter with colleagues.

• e-PIC: On the road again
  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).
• IWMPRAISE: Newsletter and resources
  Although the IWMPRAISE project has now officially ended, it leaves behind an extensive selection of resources for all those interested in Integrated Weed Management (IWM). As the project’s final external newsletter makes clear, these include but are not limited to an IWM tool, tool sheets offering complementary information to the IWM tool, how-to inspiration sheets, e-learning modules, IWM games and scientific publications.
• IPMWorks: Watch the videos!
  With the IPMWorks Resource Toolbox scheduled to open later this year, the Horizon 2020 project’s YouTube channel is beginning to fill up with introductions to some of its hubs and coverage of some of the events that have been held.
• IPM Decisions platform goes live!
  The IPM Decisions platform is now live, offering an open access one-stop shop for decision support in Integrated Pest Management. The Horizon 2020 project, involving a number of ENDURE partner organisations, says the platform will provide farmers, consultants and researchers with a wide range of Decision Support Systems and weather data from across Europe.
• SmartProtect: Platform news and more!
  SmartProtect, the Horizon 2020 Integrated Pest Management (IPM) thematic network bringing together 16 partners from 12 countries, has produced its second newsletter. It brings readers up to date with the network’s key aim, which is “to stimulate knowledge flow in the regional Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKISs) across the EU and connect these on the innovative potential of advanced methodologies for IPM in vegetable production, integrating precision farming technologies and data analytics”.
• RustWatch: Get the app and participate
  While the RustWatch project (Wheat Rust Early Warning) officially ended in October, an early warning campaign will again be carried out in 2022 and 2023 using the project’s rust survey crowdsource application.
• ABIM: Big attendance and award winners
  This October’s Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) attracted more than 1,550 visitors from 53 nations to Basel, Switzerland. The event provides the opportunity for businesses to showcase new products, to discuss market opportunities, present new research and learn about the latest regulatory situation.
• Legume Hub: Join the community
  The Horizon 2020 Legumes Translated project has helped to ensure that the European legume development community continues to thrive with the launch of the European Legume Hub knowledge platform.
• New hope for Flavescence dorée control
  Researchers at Agroscope in Switzerland have successfully cracked the genome of Flavescence dorée, raising hopes that new ways of controlling the serious vine disease may be possible.
• IWMPRAISE: Final guide to trials
  With the five-year IWMPRAISE (Integrated Weed Management: PRActical Implementation and Solutions for Europe) project due to finish this autumn, the 39 partners have produced the 2022 and final edition of its guide to the project’s Experimental Trials in Europe.
• Updates on greenhouse and indoor crops
  Researchers from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands have reported that greenhouse strawberry production is possible almost year-round with a minimal use of fossil fuels and chemical plant protection products.  
• Resistant vine team scoops award
  A team working on resistant vines at France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) has received the Science with an Impact award at the organisation’s annual Lauriers prizes, in which winners are selected by an international jury.
• Fungi for sustainable production
  Agroscope, ENDURE’s Swiss partner, has shared the findings of a pan-European study detailing the adverse effect plant protection products have on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), reducing their ability to supply plants with phosphorus via their roots.
• Whiteflies acquire multiple plant genes
  Building on recent studies revealing the transfer of two plant genes to the genome of the silverleaf whitefly, French researchers have established that some 49 plant genes have been transferred to the genome of one of the world’s major pests.
• Long-term experiments: Meeting future challenges
  The Association of Applied Biologists is organising an event focusing on long-term experiments (LTEs) from June 20 to 22, 2023. Hosted by Rothamsted Research in the UK, the three-day conference will “focus on using LTEs to meet current and future challenges in agriculture”.
• Agrifood sector considers diversification measures
  Italian researchers from the Horizon 2020 Diverfarming project have conducted a consultation on the benefits and barriers to the adoption of multiple cropping systems and sustainable management practices identified as suitable for improving diversification in the country’s cereal crops.
• Joint seminar for ERA-Net Cofund projects
  Projects from the SusCrop and FACCA SURPLUS ERA-Net Cofunds are holding a joint status seminar meeting early next year as part of an outreach seminar for international collaboration.
• Be inspired: IWM in oilseed rape
  The latest inspiration sheet from IWMPRAISE, the project addressing Integrated Weed Management (IWM), details the seven trials conducted in three French regions on combined mechanical and chemical weeding in oilseed rape (OSR).
• Events: Get organised for 2023!
  Next year’s events calendar is filling up nicely, with some conference organisers opting to hold hybrid live and virtual events to attract wider audiences. These include the Association of Applied Biologists’ event focusing on long-term experiments, which is being hosted by Rothamsted Research in the UK from June 20 to 22 2023, and the 8th edition of the Global Conference on Plant Science and Molecular Biology (GPMB 2023), which is being held in Valencia, Spain and virtually next September.
• To find out more about ENDURE, visit: www.endure-network.eu
• To get in touch with ENDURE, use the contact form