Biotic constraints and Integrated Crop Protection (BIOPIC)

This facilitation group is part of the general context of reducing pesticide use and designing agroecological solutions to control diseases, insect pests and weeds of economic importance in a sustainable way. The cross-cutting area BIOPIC is intended to promote a multidisciplinary approach, and facilitate the exchange and sharing of ideas on monitoring and management tools in ICP, in day-to-day research activities and collaborative projects.

Objectives:

One of the challenges of this axis will be to facilitate the integration of results produced by the team Prose  on ecological processes (epidemiology, trophic interactions, natural plant defences, etc.) in the design of innovative and ecologically-based crop protection strategies (team Tapage ), whether biological (use of natural enemies), agroecological (crop management, resistant varieties, companion/service plants, push-pull strategies, etc.), biochemical (pheromones, kairomones), and biopesticidal (microorganisms, natural plant extracts,etc) according to participative approaches together with stakeholders.

BIOPIC axis therefore aims to facilitate the handling of complex problems related to pests and diseases and to understand the factors favourable and unfavourable to their multiplication by using the range of spatial information tools, models, databases and knowledge, etc developed by the team Estime .

Participants:

BIOPIC axis will be dedicated to a group of researchers, engineers and technicians who belong to disciplines related to crop protection, while remaining open to other researchers in the unit who wish to participate. The real challenge of this cross-cutting effort will be to bring added value to Aïda’s agronomy projects by facilitating the implementation of studies on pests and diseases and ICP.

Activities:

Internally,

  1. Capitalise, share and exchange methods, tools, experiences (in the field, especially with partners) and knowledge of group participants, in order to solve problems and implement inter-team solutions.
  2. Organise talk sessions on generic articles (and their structuring) on ICP and societal issues (glyphosate, GMOs, biocontrol, ICP and landscapes, etc.).
  3. Respond collectively or at least concertedly to calls for projects in order to better gather and manage crop protection and pest and disease management skills within the unit and to ensure that this theme is better integrated into project development.
  4. Intervene in the unit’s jobs and skills planning management (GPEC) concerning the ICP/ACP theme. The cross-cutting area will also make it possible to cope with scientific isolation and facilitate mobility.

Externally,

  1. Organise one or two workshops per year with a few CIRAD guests (RU interested in pests and diseases) and outside CIRAD on ICP/ACP in general.
  2. Facilitate links with DPs focused on pests and diseases and ICP: DP DIVECOSYS (West Africa), DP ASEA (South-East Asia) and DP BIOCONTROLE (Indian Ocean).
  3. Manage/facilitate the Lavallette equipment platform (Building 2) dedicated to experiments on pests and diseases, interactions with plant-insects, chemical ecology, determination/identification (laboratory, magnifying glass, host, small equipment)
  4. Facilitate the reception of students within this platform
  5. Interact with other units to share tools and equipment, define new investment needs (Lavalette and Baillarguet platforms)

Operational implementation:

A collaborative space will be created to share information, databases and knowledge, methods and tools and bibliography on ICP (books, articles, synthesis reports, fact sheets, etc.). A generic address will be created to facilitate communication within the group.

Quarterly meetings (4 times a year) will be organised, during which:

  • Everyone will be able to speak and present to the entire group what they have achieved in their field of activity;
  • Publicise projects, initiatives, events at CIRAD and elsewhere in our field. Designate resource or reference persons
  • The group as a whole can work on a tool/method project.

In order to operate properly, this group will need to have a cross-cutting budget for coordination efforts, in particular to organise inter-RU workshops, with invitations to external guests (INRA, CNRS, amongst others).