Agroecology 1 min

Integrated Pest Management in Europe

European agriculture has to strike a difficult balance: reducing its use of pesticides, a move designed to reduce the risks for human health and the environment, while maintaining its competitiveness. The ENDURE scientific network was launched in 2007 and for the past four years has been exploring the possibilities for improving pest control methods and to create agricultural systems less reliant on the use of pesticides. It presented the fruit of its research to the crop protection community during an International Conference in Paris on November 24 and 25, 2010.

Published on 12 June 2010

© INRAE

Coordinated by INRA, ENDURE gathered more than 300 researchers from 16 different institutions across 10 European countries. This network represents a contribution to the European Research Area and will be maintained after 2010 in the form of a European Research Group (ERG). The ENDURE ERG will ensure we continue to profit from the synergies created and will become a reference point for sustainable strategies for managing pests.

See the videos of the conference:

24 November 2010:

25 November 2010:

As part of this network, a foresight study was conducted by INRA and three other research institutes which are also members of ENDURE (Aarhus University in Denmark, Rothamsted Research Centre in Great Britain, Wageningen University in the Netherlands) from July 2007 to October 2010.

A new European project, named PURE, for Pesticide Use-and-Risk reduction in European farming systems with Integrated Pest Management, will be launched for a four-year period (2011-1014) after Endure. Coordinated by INRA, PURE associates 14 European research institutes or universities, 2 extension organisations, 5 industries and 1 project management consulting company.

Endure Website

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Biodiversity

Mickaël Henry, the buzz behind the bee

After an extensive international academic career, Mickaël Henry, researcher extraordinaire, published more than 20 articles on behavioural and spatial ecology by the time he was 36. Recognised the world over as an authority on tropical bats, he has become a renowned specialist on bees since joining INRA. In 2012, he and his colleagues published a study in Science magazine demonstrating significant sub-lethal effects of certain active substances on bees. The study prompted authorities to revise procedures for the approval of pesticides.

04 December 2019

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