24 May –
25 May

Room L, entrance via Ulls Hus, Campus Ultuna, Uppsala, Hybrid: Live in Uppsala and digital webinar

Crop protection futures in agriculture

events | conferences | seminars, workshops |

Crop production is the vital basis for our food system, but the current set up is highly dependent on inputs of chemical pesticides and mineral fertilisers. Crop protection researchers, experts and other interested parties from all over Europe will gather in Uppsala to discuss strategies for crop protection with few or no chemical pesticides to make cropping more robust, resource-efficient and environmentally friendly.

European and global food production face major challenges which call for impact assessments and coordination of knowledge, innovation and transformation. Crop production is the vital basis for our food system, but our current cropping system is highly dependent on inputs of chemical pesticides and mineral fertilisers. The inputs have a negative impact on human health and the environment and the systems are vulnerable to long and broken supply chains, climate change and pest outbreaks. Cropping needs to become more robust, resource-efficient and environmentally friendly.

To make cropping sustainable, it is paramount to maintain plant health and minimize crop losses due to pests, diseases and weeds – problems that are expected to increase with climate change in present cropping systems. Fewer and fewer chemical pesticides are available to the farmers as they are phased out and few new reaches the market. No new modes of action of pesticides have been discovered (none since 1994), and pests and weeds are ever more resistant to available pesticides.

Ambitious plans are put in place for decreased pesticide use and risks, such as the EU Farm to Fork strategy. These shifts pose challenges, but also open opportunities for productive, competitive and sustainable food production.

On 24 May 2023 the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) hosts an afternoon event with discussions on the future of crop protection in agriculture. The focus will be on recent achievements, future solutions and ways forward. The discussions will feed into current developments related to crop protection and pesticide use within the European Union. The event will be proceeded by a side event before lunch with speed talks and networkning. The day after, on 25 May, there is an opportunity to participate in an excursion to SLU's research field site Lövsta and to Linnaeus' Hammarby, the summer house of Carl von Linnaeus built in 1762.

For the full programme, se further below.

Registration LIVE (closed)

Registration DIGITAL (closed)

Facts

Time: 2023-05-24 - 2023-05-25
City: Hybrid: Live in Uppsala and digital webinar
Location: Room L, entrance via Ulls Hus, Campus Ultuna, Uppsala
Organiser: SLU Future Food & SLU Plant Protection Network
Last signup date: 15 May 2023
Price: Free of charge
Additional info:

Organisers and contacts

Riccardo Bommarco, Professor at the Department of Ecology, SLU, Riccardo.Bommarco@slu.se

Annsofie Wahlström, Director of SLU Future Food, SLU Annsofie.Wahlstrom@slu.se

Sara Gräslund, Head of SLU Global, SLU, Sara.Graslund@slu.se

Participation

LIVE participation

The conference is hosted by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and held in Sal L, with entrance via Ulls Hus at Campus Ultuna, located 7 kilometres south of Uppsala city in Sweden. The address is Almas Allé 8, Uppsala.
Participants schedule and book their own travels.
The local bus ”UL” line (green) No. 4, as well as regional bus (yellow) No. 100 and 101, operates on the road between the Central station in Uppsala to the bus stop“Campus Ultuna”. Download the UL-app on App Store or Google play to see time tables and purchase a ticket.
If you rather prefer taxi we recommend Uppsala Taxi, call + 46 (0)18-100 000 to book one.

DIGITAL participation

The event will be broadcasted as a webinar via Zoom and the link will be sent out some days before the event.
Digital participatione is eco-friendly and convenient, but you will miss the all important networking (and Sweden in the month of May).

Resources and news

Sweden 2023 EU

Further events on plant health

Friday 2023-05-12 at 11:00–12:00 CET: SLU lunch webinar on the International Day of Plant Health discussing challenges for plant health in agriculture, horticulture and forestry.
Wednesday 2023-05-24 at 9:00–12:00 CET: SLU side event to the conferense Crop protection futures in agriculture with speed talks and networking. For more information, see the programme below. For participation, please register on this web page.
Thursday 2023-05-25 at 9:00–13:00 CET: SLU excursion to the research field site Lövsta and to Linnaeus' Hammarby, the summer house of Carl von Linnaeus built in 1762. For more information, see the programme below. For participation, please register on this web page.
Monday 2023-05-29 at 09:30–15:00 CET: SLU live workshop on plant health from a plant breeding perspective. Workshop to be held in Höör on development and challenges to promote good plant health, including what the latest EU regulations mean. Furthermore, results from SLU Grogrund are presented, as well as future scouting and needs from the industry. In Swedish only.

Programme

Wednesday 24 May 2023, 9:00–11:30, Side event

9:00–10:00 Introduction and speed talks

Welcome by Riccardo Bommarco, SLU
Integration of IPM technologies in future crop protection, Mukesh Dubey, SLU
Automated in field detection of potato blight, Roy Kennedy, WCUC
Molecular tools pave the way for IPM solutions, Ann-Charlotte Wallenhammar, Rural Economy and Agricultural Society
Paths and side paths of environmentally-sounds viticulture in Slovenia – more than 30 years of implementation, experiences and perspectives, Denis Rusjan, University of Ljubljana
Integrated pest management smart technologies to precisely detect and control plant diseases, Dimitris Tsitsigiannis, Agricultural University of Athens
Spray-induced silencing as a possible strategy for plant disease control, Ramesh Vetukuri, SLU
Crop Protection in the future – Challenges and possibilities, Carl-Henric Ljung, Swedish Crop Protection Association

10:00–10:30 Fika

10:30–11:30 Speed talks

Improving and deploying biocontrol strategies: a multidisciplinary challenge, Thibaut Malausa, INRAE
Reducing insect pest pressure and crop damage by spatiotemporal isolation of oilseed rape fields, Fabian Boetzl, SLU
Farmers' attitudes toward reducing pesticide use: What factors can support change? A case from Croatia, Renata Bazok, University of Zagreb
Climate-proofing IPM - what are the prospects and challenges?, Paul Egan, SLU
Weed seed predation. A promising ecosystem service for sustainable weed control, Eirini Daouti, SLU
Non-chemical weed control of Elymus repens (couch grass) and other perennial weeds, Björn Ringselle, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
Crop diversity for crop protection: getting the mix right, Chloe MacLaren, SLU

Wednesday 24 May 2023, 11:30–17:30, Conference

11:30 Registration, lunch & mingle

13:00 Introduction

Prof. Riccardo Bommarco, Professor in Agricultural Entomology, SLU, host of the event
Prof. Maria Knutson-Wedel, Vice-Chancellor of SLU
Ms. Helene Holstein, Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure

13:30 Scientific achievements and knowledge needs

Weed management breakthroughs, Prof. Göran Bergkvist, Professor of weed ecology and weed management, SLU
Crop diversification breakthroughs, Dr. Sari Himanen, Senior Scientist at Natural Resources Institute Finland, Luke
Plant pathology breakthroughs, Prof. Laura Grenville-Briggs Didymus, Professor of integrated plant protection, SLU
Technological breakthroughs in weed management, Dr. Christian Andreasen, Associate Professor in weed science, Copenhagen University
Knowledge needs scoping, Prof. Ionel-Mugurel Jitea, Professor, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca
Q&A with moderator Prof. Christine Watson, Professor of agricultural systems, Scotland's Rural College

14:45 Foresight report

Presentation of the Foresight report, Mr. Olivier Mora, Foresight Coordinator at INRAE
Q&A with moderator Prof. Christine Watson, Professor of agricultural systems, Scotland's Rural College

15:15 Fika

15:45 Knowledge and dialogue on science, farming and food

Panel discussion with moderator Dr. Alain Gaume, Agroscope Switzerland
Ms. Helena Allard, Sustainability Expert, Axfood Sweden
Prof. Frank Ewert, Scientific Director ZALF, University of Bonn
Mr. Pär Holmgren, Swedish Member of the European Parliament
Mr. Anders Lindgren, Research and Innovation Project Manager, Lantmännen Sweden
Dr. Tobin Robinson, Head of Emerging Risks, EFSA
Dr. Kristina Volkova Hellström, Expert in Environmental Poisons, The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, SSNC/PAN Europe

16.40 Final reflections

Dr. Christian Huyghe, Scientific Director of Agriculture, INRAE France

17:15 Summary and conclusions

Prof. Riccardo Bommarco, Professor in Agricultural Entomology, SLU, host of the event

Thursday 25 May 9:00–13:00 (Side event)

Excursion to SLU's research field site Lövsta and to Linnaeus' Hammarby, the summer house of Carl von Linnaeus built in 1762.

Contact

www.slu.se/futurefood

Nyhetsbrev / Newsletter Food for thought

Twitter @SLUFutureFood

LinkedIn SLU Future Food

Podd Feeding your mind

YouTube SLU Future Food

futurefood@slu.se

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