SLU Centre for Organic Food and Farming (EPOK)

Integrated pest management needs better implementation to provide ecological advantages

In its current form, integrated pest management (IPM) is not enhancing ecosystem services such as biocontrol potential or reducing disservices such as herbivore pressure when compared with

Crop protection futures in agriculture-en

Crop protection futures in agriculture futurefood@slu.se Crop production is the vital basis for our food system, but the current set up is highly dependent on inputs of chemical pesticides and

Political deafness may impede transition to biological control

The EU Commission has proposed a new Regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products. One of its goals is that chemical control has largely been replaced with biological control not

Different kinds of crop diversity at conventional and organic farms

The diversity of crops grown in a field, on a farm, and in the landscape tends to have a positive impact on the wild biodiversity, as well as crop production, and ecosystem functions that support and

New Swedish research agenda for organic food and farming

A new national research agenda for organic food and farming was released in September. Now, the agenda is also available in English. The comprehensive process behind the agenda was led by Epok and

Ley crops to pigs

Do pigs need access to forage? How are they affected by eating forage and what are the benefits? In this video, the researchers talk about their work investigating and evaluating whether grass and

Legumes can make agriculture more earthworm friendly

Earthworms are important for soil structure and nutrient cycle, but they suffer from conventional ploughing. However, refraining from ploughing is not always possible. Now SLU researchers have found

Longer shelf-life and healthier strawberries

A biocontrol fungus has been demonstrated to decrease gray mold substantially in strawberry plants when vectored by bumblebees. This led to improved shelf life of the harvested strawberries with

Landscape complexity promotes resilience of biological pest control

Ecosystem services can be vulnerable to climate change. How vulnerable depends on how resilient they are to, for example, changing temperatures. In a new study, landscape complexity was found to

The public sector can contribute to increased organic food production

Through so-called green procurement, the public sector can participate in and influence the market for organic food. Since 2006, Sweden has had a goal that 25 percent of food consumption in the

Specific cultivar traits are important in intercropping systems

In his PhD studies, James Ajal has investigated intercropping combinations of pea and barley as well as faba bean and wheat, and found that the nutrient uptake efficiency of the crops play a more

SLU Plant Protection Network kick-off

cajsa.lithell@slu.se Come, meet and connect with others at SLU working within plant protection or plant health. Get to know and help shaping our new SLU Plant Protection Network, and find out what