Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
October 28, 2010
The desire for less pesticide residues on crops and a reduction in the types of agro-chemicals available to farmers after recent EU legislation is being addressed by new research at SCRI.
SCRI is one of the partners in the EU PURE project (Pesticide Use-and-risk Reduction in European farming systems with Integrated Pest Management) which will develop integrated pest and disease management techniques for major EU crops.
Integrated pest and disease management (IPDM) is a holistic, systems-based approach, integrating several strategies to reduce weeds, insect pests and diseases while minimising the use of pesticide treatments.
PURE is the biggest agricultural project funded by the EU under the Framework 7 programme with a total value of €12 million. As part of the project SCRI will receive £600,000 funding over four years that will create several new jobs.
The main crops researched will be wheat, maize, field vegetables (brassicas), pome fruits (for example apples and pears), grapevines and ‘protected’ vegetables grown under polytunnels. The project consortium includes a range of top research and industry partners from across Europe.
The project also offers an excellent platform for field to landscape scale ecological research across EU's diverse climatic zones.
SCRI will contribute to several areas of work covering conservation of beneficial insects, landscape engineering, and also novel ways to increase plant defences using elicitors. SCRI will also be a test site for new IPDM strategies in wheat and brassica production systems.
Dr Graham Begg, of SCRI’s Environment Plant Interactions programme, who will lead research into the role of ecological engineering in IPDM said, “With the reduction in available pesticides, growers will have to look to different and more innovative methods of managing crops and the PURE project will support that move".
Dr Nick Birch, who coordinates SCRI’s input said, “The aims of the project are also closely linked to research funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate that focuses on more sustainable agriculture, food security and the impacts of environmental change.”
SCRI's multi-disciplinary team includes Geoff Squire, Graham Begg (Work Package leader), Pete Iannetta, Adrian Newton, John Jones and Nick Birch (SCRI coordinator).
Project details
Title: Pesticide Use-and-risk Reduction in European farming systems with Integrated Pest Management
Funded under: EU Framework 7
Total value: €12 million
Partners: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France), Rothamsted Research (UK), Aarhus University (Denmark), Julius Kühn-Institut (Germany), Stichting Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek (Netherlands), Wageningen University (Netherlands), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy), Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (Slovenia), Scottish Crop Research Institute (UK), Fondazione Edmund Mach (Germany), Instituto Valenciano de Investigacions Agrarias (Spain), Institute of Plant Protection, University of Debrecen, Centre of Agricultural Sciences (Hungary), Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (Spain), Danish Agricultural Advisory Service (Denmark), Association de Coordination Technique Agricole (France), Bayer Crop Science (Germany), Biotop (Germany), Natural Plant Protection (France), Burkard Manufacturing Co Ltd (USA), Blgg (Germany), INRA Transfert (France).
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