The Horizon Europe pest management project, IPMorama, which launched in September 2024 will begin testing and scientific experiments this year, along with setting a multi-faceted roadmap for the following year.
The programme will examine the next generation of integrated pest management (IPM) in crops and aims to “revolutionise” this area in European agriculture.
The project is led by coordinator Dan Milbourne from Teagasc and has 17 partners from 10 countries, with project targets of critical crop diseases in wheat, potatoes, and grain legumes such as soybean and lupin.
IPMorama will first focus on wheat, potatoes and grain legumes (soy, pea and lupins), looking at important diseases and pests of these species, such as late blight and rust disease. Based on several main steps, the project will develop a whole practice ecosystem for variety-centric IPM.
One of the main plans for 2025 is to develop tools for breeding for resistance and understanding how deployed resistant varieties interact with existing and emerging pathogens and pests.
Pest management:
This will be done through collecting and curating a large and comprehensive set of genetic markers for disease resistance for wheat and potato, and initiating the development of similar genetic marker sets for grain legumes.
IPMorama aims to initiate several marker-assisted selection-based breeding initiatives to develop germplasm that will contribute to developing varieties resistant to target diseases.
The deployment of resistant varieties are starting to be developed – especially with wheat and potato – across Europe, along with how they interact with pathogens against which they are bred for resistance.
There will also be a routine monitoring system set up to assess changes in host susceptibility of wheat due to the emergence of significant new races of yellow rust, stem rust and leaf rust.
This will involve an element of stakeholder involvement in the form of training workshops, where representatives from the organisations (e.g breeders) supplying plant material will be invited.
Pest pathogen monitoring:
IPMorama also aims to advance tools in 2025 to identify and assemble resistance genes, facilitating the breeding of crops resistant to pests and diseases. Efforts will focus on ensuring these tools are adaptable to multiple crop species and agricultural conditions.
The project aims to map the distribution and evolution of pathogen strains across Europe, including monitoring the virulence of pathogens like Phytophthora infestans, the cause of late blight in potatoes, to tailor region-specific IPM strategies.
IPMorama will pilot variety-centric IPM strategies at the farm level. Moving beyond experimental plots, it seeks to validate the practical applicability of integrating resistant varieties with sustainable pest management measures.
Stakeholder engagement:
This year will see the project continuing to build its stakeholder network to get insights on feasible exploitation and sustainability strategies.
The project’s website and digital content will highlight progress and foster collaboration, along with a robust communication strategy, including social media campaigns, newsletters, and events.
There will also be training of growers, breeders and agricultural advisors in IPM techniques during the year, with plans for further expansion and improvements as the project produces more results.
Innovative policy
IPMorama will produce actionable recommendations for policymakers, ensuring that its outcomes align with wider EU agricultural goals, including those outlined in the Farm to Fork strategy and Green Deal policies.
Strengthening connections with agricultural networks is one of its “key plans” with agricultural networks such as EuroBlight and RustWatch.
The project will explore scalable solutions and foster long-term partnerships to ensure its outcomes benefit the agricultural ecosystem beyond the project’s duration.