Integrated pest management and the future of farming

The event will bring together a varied audience including industry, academia, farmers, growers, government and funders. We want to achieve an Agri-Tech Industry opinion around Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to drive compelling discussions during and after the event.

We’re working with the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield and the Transforming Food Production team of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to bring this event to the Plants and Crops community.

Here’s an overview of what to expect:

?  Scene-setting presentations including an overview of IPM approaches

?  Thoughts on the current agricultural landscape in the UK, how IPM is being used and future opportunities

?  A discussion around opportunities (e.g. funding) to support future work in this area

?  An interactive session to gather audience input on challenges and opportunities for IPM

Click here to view the full agenda. 

Why is Integrated Pest Management a priority? 

In 2018, the KTN Plant Sector Advisory Board released a report defining clear priorities for the UK sector.

The report highlighted 12 priority areas for future research and implementation efforts. The priority areas are organised around three themes:

• Sustainable improvements in productivity, quality and safety

• Improving social awareness and proliferation of required skills

• Environmental protection to support intensification

Many of the topics highlighted by the report have links to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches. This includes:

• Crop health & protection

• Crop diversification

• Soil health

• Farming systems

• Emerging technologies

The report mentions two critical factors that will support the adoption of IPM approaches: social impact acceptance and co-innovation between developers and end users.

Discussions around opportunities and challenges associated with the deployment of IPM approaches are particularly timely. The United Nations declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health, and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs released its policy update on “The future of food, farming and the environment“.