EIP-AGRI activities related to plant health
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
| Geographical scope | European Union |
| Keywords | Pest / disease control Plant production and horticulture |
Plant health is vital for agriculture, environment, landscape, and biodiversity. EU rules and actions on plant health aim to protect crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers, ornamentals and forests from harmful pests and diseases by preventing their introduction into the EU or their spread within the EU as well as ensuring adequate management of potential outbreaks of harmful pests and diseases.
Sustaining plant health must be achieved without putting further strain on the environment. Avoiding hazardous chemicals when addressing pests protects the environment as well as pollinators, natural pest enemies, beneficial organisms, and the people and animals who depend on plants. The Farm-to-Fork strategy highlights the need to transition to a fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food system and proposes two specific targets: 50% reduction in the use and risk of chemical pesticides and a 50% reduction in the use of more hazardous pesticides by 2030.
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products in line with the EU’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. Further information on the proposal can be found in this article, on the EU’s Sustainable use of pesticides page and in this video.
Alongside new regulations and initiatives, the EU’s innovation and research for agriculture can provide a significant contribution to achieving the targets.
Find out below what the EIP-AGRI network has been doing over the past few years to work towards achieving these goals.
Check out the EIP-AGRI newsletter from April 2020 which was dedicated to plant health. You can also take a look at another thematic newsletter focusing on sustainable use of pesticides published in September 2022.
EIP-AGRI Focus Groups
EIP-AGRI Focus Groups are temporary groups of selected experts focusing on a specific subject, sharing knowledge and experience. Several of them have worked on issues related to plant health, click on each link below to find reports, factsheets and more:
- Diseases and pests in viticulture
- Non-chemical weed management in arable cropping systems
- Optimising profitability of crop production through Ecological Focus Areas
- Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - Focus on Brassica species
- IPM practices for soil-borne diseases suppression in vegetables and arable crops
- Pests and diseases of the olive tree
- Sustainable ways to reduce the use of pesticides in pome and stone fruit production
- Bee health and sustainable bee keeping
- Protecting agricultural soils from contamination
- Organic farming – Optimising arable yields
EIP-AGRI events
The EIP-AGRI holds workshops and seminars on specific topics. Click on each link to find reports, presentations and more from events related to plant health:
- EIP-AGRI Workshop Cropping for the future: networking for crop rotation and crop diversification
- EIP-AGRI Workshop: Connecting innovative projects: Water & Agriculture
- EIP-AGRI workshop 'Organic is Operational'
- EIP-AGRI Workshop Conversion to organic farming
- EIP-AGRI Workshop Tools for environmental farm performance
- EIP-AGRI seminar: Healthy soils for Europe: sustainable management through knowledge and practice
- EIP-AGRI workshop: Shaping the EU mission ‘Caring for soil is caring for life’
- Agri-Innovation summit 2019 on the transition to agroecology
- EIP-AGRI brokerage event 'Get involved in the EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe'
EIP-AGRI publications
As well as the reports from Focus Groups above, the EIP-AGRI has produced the following publications which are relevant to plant health:
- EIP-AGRI Brochure IPM for Brassica
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Sustainable and resilient farming: Inspiration from agro-ecology
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Soil Organic matter matters
- EIP-AGRI Factsheet on IPM for Brassica
- EIP-AGRI Factsheet Soil-borne Diseases
- EIP-AGRI Factsheet on Diseases and pests in viticulture
- EIP-AGRI Factsheet on Ecological Focus Areas
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Organic is operational
- Agrinnovation magazine – Issue n° 7 – September 2020 (focus on soil health)
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Organic farming: Innovative approaches to support conversion
EIP-AGRI Videos
Watch these videos on examples of plant health related initiatives from the EIP-AGRI network:
- AGRI challenge: soil fertility through carbon storage
- AGRI Challenge: Non-chemical weed management in arable cropping systems
- AGRI challenge: increasing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes
- AGRI Challenge: Pests and diseases in olive trees in Mediterranean regions – 4 May 2020
- PestNu Project : Field -testing and demonstration of Digital and Space based technologies with agro-ecological and organic practices in systemic innovation
- AGRI challenge: sustainable pome and stone fruit
Inspirational ideas from the network
Articles on examples of plant health related initiatives from the EIP-AGRI network:
- Inspirational ideas: Vineyard app for plant protection (ES)
- Inspirational ideas: Crop health and pesticide resistance (UK)
- Inspirational ideas: Fighting grapevine trunk diseases (ES)
- Inspirational ideas: Dealing with pests from the air (FR)
- Inspirational ideas: Smart sensors to better understand plant growth (NL, Serbia)
- Inspirational ideas: Ideas for IPM (NL, SI, CH)
- Inspirational ideas: Changing weather conditions force olive farmers to start with pest management (IT)
- Inspirational ideas: Olive groves and drones - science fiction turned reality (ES)
- Inspirational ideas: Combatting weeds with non-chemical alternatives (PT)
- Inspirational ideas: A mobile app to monitor pests and diseases in Umbria, Italy (IT)
- Inspirational ideas: Biostimulants for sustainable agriculture (IT)
- Inspirational ideas: Chickens tackle weeds in Portuguese vineyards (PT)
- Inspirational ideas: Weed control without chemicals (IE)
- Inspirational ideas: Co-designing measures for grass weed control in arable systems (DE)
- Inspirational ideas: Weed control in organic viticulture (FR)
- Inspirational ideas: Sustainable farming in French Guiana (FR)
- Keeping plants and crops healthy - Read article in the seventh edition of Agrinnovation magazine (page 8)
- Inspirational idea: Certification of Pesticide residue free fruit & veg
- Inspirational idea: Controlling wireworms in potato production
Horizon 2020 projects
- WINETWORK - Network for the exchange and transfer of innovative knowledge between European wine-growing regions to increase the productivity and sustainability of the sector: CORDIS - website
- INNOSETA - Accelerating Innovative practices for Spraying Equipment, Training and Advising in European agriculture through the mobilization of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems: CORDIS - website
- SMARTPROTECT - SMART agriculture for innovative vegetable crop PROTECTion: harnessing advanced methodologies and technologies: CORDIS - websit
- IPMWORKS - An EU-wide farm network demonstrating and promoting cost-effective IPM strategies: website – CORDIS
- VIRTIGATION - Emerging viral diseases in tomatoes and cucurbits: implementation of mitigation strategies for durable disease management: website – CORDIS
- IPM Popillia - Integrated Pest Management of the invasive Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica: website – CORDIS
- PESTNU - Field -testing and demonstration of digital and space based technologies with agro-ecological and organic practices in systemic innovation: website - CORDIS
- NOVATERRA - Integrated novel strategies for reducing the use and impact of pesticides, towards sustainable Mediterranean vineyards and olive grove: website - CORDIS
- WELASER - sustainable weed management in agriculture with laser-based autonomous tools: website – CORDIS
- BIOSCHAMP - Biostimulant alternative casing for a sustainable and profitable mushroom industry: website – CORDIS
- Excalibur - Exploiting the multifunctional potential of belowground biodiversity in horticultural farming: website – CORDIS
- IPMDecisions: Stepping-up IPM decision support for crop protection: CORDIS - website
- OPTIMA: Optimised Pest Integrated Management to precisely detect and control plant diseases in perennial crops and open-field vegetables: CORDIS - website
There are many other related multi-actor projects, click here and scroll down to "Plant health - Pest management".
Other
- European Commission Sustainable use of pesticides page
- European Commission’s video ‘Adoption of the Sustainable use of Pesticides Regulation’
- European Commission's Horizon 2020 results pack (Published in May 2021): Results Pack Plant health: Keeping plants healthy while protecting the environment
- European Commission's Horizon 2020 results pack (published in Feb 2020): Protecting plants to safeguard our future
- DG AGRI’s AgriResearch factsheet on plant health
- EIP-AGRI Newsletter April 2020 which has many articles on plant health
- "Plant health" search on the EIP-AGRI database of Operational Groups
- Questions and Answers on New rules to reduce the risk and use of pesticides
- Factsheet on reducing the risk and use of pesticides in Europe
- Factsheet on more sustainable use of pesticides in Europe
- Factsheet on supporting farmers to reduce the use of chemical pesticides
Publication date:
Thursday, 9 April, 2020 - 15:00
