Danish EPA | Plant production must be made less dependent on pesticides in new project

Three professional plant breeders have been selected for the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's project, where they will use the principles of integrated plant protection - also called IPM principles - in a new way. The agricultural knowledge center SEGES has won the contract for the project. The aim is to make plant breeding less dependent on the use of pesticides, for example by focusing more on the prevention of the occurrence of weeds and pests, and thereby reducing the risks and effects of pesticides on human health and the environment.

There is a particular focus on the crop rotation in the project. That is, which crops are established one after the other in the field. Here it is of great importance for which crops follow which, for example to reduce the amount of weeds in the field. There is also a focus on using all the IT tools available when deciding on and when to spray against a disease or a pest.

The 3-year project will have a group of advisers, researchers and technicians attached to each plant breeding farm. The group must make their knowledge available and in this way help the plant growers to decide how the IPM principles should be included in the plan for what needs to be changed to make the plant breeding less dependent on pesticides.

Source: mst.dk (Automatically translated from Danish)