Agroecology 3 min

H2020 IPMWorks: reducing pesticide use by building a European farm network based on the French DEPHY model

PRESS RELEASE - Reducing pesticide use 50% by 2030 is the goal of the European Union's Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy. Throughout Europe, agricultural policies have prioritised engaging with farmers, whose commitment is essential in the quest to change agricultural practices. Drawing upon the experiences of the French farm network DEPHY, the H2020 IPMWORKS project will build a European farm network with a two-fold objective: to demonstrate integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, which use small quantities of pesticides, and to promote the adoption of such strategies via knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning among farmers. IPMWORKS was officially launched in the autumn of 2020 and will run for a period of 4 years. The project is coordinated by INRAE and has brought together 31 partners in 16 European countries. These partners include ACTA, the network of French agricultural technical institutes, and APCA, the assembly of French chambers of agriculture.

Published on 20 November 2020

© Pascal Xicluna / agriculture.gouv.fr

European agriculture continues to use large quantities of pesticides. Most farms in Europe primarily or exclusively rely on pesticides to combat pests, diseases, and weeds, thus limiting crop losses. The increased use of pesticides over time has become a major societal concern because it threatens the health of humans and the environment. It also creates economic and technical challenges for the farmers themselves because pesticides account for a large percentage of the farm budget, and pesticide overuse leads to a decline in efficacy because target organisms become resistant.

A few pioneering farmers have already successfully adopted IPM strategies: the economic performance of their farms remains strong despite their low levels of pesticide use. The next step is to convince more farmers to make this switch. There is also a need to promote the broader adoption of technically and economically effective IPM strategies that utilise advanced non-chemical tools and take a systemic view of crop farming. IPMWORKS will help disseminate the positive experiences of these early IPM converts, by facilitating knowledge exchange among farmers, performing demonstrations, and training both farmers and their agricultural advisors.

IPMWORKS will draw on the strength of pre-established national farm networks, including DEPHY, the network of 3,000 French farmers who are committed to showing that agriculture can adopt low-pesticide-input production methods. The project will also create new farm demonstration networks in European regions where farmers who have adopted IPM are not yet formally organised. This project aims to engage with farmers, agricultural advisors, government representatives, consumers, and stakeholders in the agrifood industry. The objective is to show that IPM strategies can successfully decrease the need for pesticides when used at larger scales on actual farms representing the diverse sectors of agricultural production. IPMWORKS will show that this systemic approach to crop protection can maintain or even improve the economic performance of farms and reduce the environmental impacts of agricultural production.

IPM's efficacy will be demonstrated on individual farms within the network as well as within France and the entire European Union. The project will highlight the diversity of production systems found across different European regions and the range of strategic methods for managing diseases, pests, and weeds. To bring the EU's Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy to life, IPMWORKS will engage with researchers, farmers, agricultural advisors, and various stakeholders interested in innovation.

Project summary

IPMWorks- Integrated Pest Management – 2020-2024

Coordination INRAE – 31 partenaires : INRAE (FR), INRAE-Transfert (FR), ILVO (BE), APCA – Chambres d’agriculture France (FR), DELPHY (NL), ADAS (UK), CONSULAI (PT), IAMZ (SP), Wageningen R. (NL), Aarhus University (DK), KPODR (PL), UCSC (IT), JHI (UK), ACTA – Les instituts techniques agricoles dont l’IFV (FR), LEAF (UK), INTIA (SP), INAGRO (BE), KGZS (SI), FEUGA (SP), Djursland landboforening (DK), VELAS (DK), PROAGRIA (FI), TEAGASC (IE), GLZ (DE), COEXPHAL (SP), IFOAM (BE), JKI (DE), SSSA (IT), AUA (GR), Agroscope (CH), BIOSENSE (RS).

Horizon 2020 European funding:  €6 million

H2020 project n° 100033 
INRAE Press Office
ACTA Press Office
APCA Press Office

Scientific contact

Nicolas Munier-Jolain

Centre

Division

Learn more

Agroecology

Alternatives to chemical pesticides: 24 European research institutes undertake an ambitious roadmap

PRESS RELEASE - A strong demand from public authorities, agriculture professionals, and society in general, all over Europe, has spurred collaborative research in order to accelerate the agroecological transition. To face a challenge of this magnitude the joint declaration of intent “Towards a Chemical Pesticide-free Agriculture” aims to rethink the way research is carried out and develop new common research and experimentation strategies, not just at a national level, but throughout the whole continent. This declaration was signed today by 24 research organisations from 16 European countries. Driven by the French Institute INRAE and its German counterparts ZALF and JKI, this unprecedented endeavour has brought the European research community together around this ambitious vision of an agriculture free of chemical* pesticides. The declaration, formalised on 23 February at the Paris International Agricultural Show, with support of the french Mnistries in charge of Agriculture and Research, in presence of Amelie de Montchalin, The French State Secretary of EU Affairs, establishes a European research alliance, aiming to build a scientific roadmap that will soon be presented to the European Commission, as a contribution to the European Green Deal.

23 February 2020

Agroecology

Reducing pesticide use in agriculture without lowering productivity

PRESS RELEASE - As part of the DEPHY-Ferme network, a major component of the French government’s EcoPhyto plan to reduce and improve plant protection product use, researchers from INRAE working with the company Agrosolutions examined the relationship between pesticide use and cropping system performances in terms of productivity and profitability. The results, published in Nature Plants on 27 February 2017, show that pesticide use can be significantly reduced without lowering yields or economic performances at farm level if substantial changes in farming practices are adopted. However, implementing new practices is not necessarily easy and farmers need guidance in doing so.

12 February 2020