Integrated pest management for sustainable agriculture

Key reasons to attend this course

• Gain knowledge about various types of pests, including phytophagous insects, plant pathogens, weeds and their impact on agriculture and forestry.
• Learn about modern challenges in IPM, such as sustainable use of pesticides, prevention of emerging and invasive pests, and mitigation of climate change impacts.
• Understanding the holistic approach to IPM through: the landscape, good practices in the cropping system, non-chemical solutions, decision-making to avoid unnecessary treatments, a One Health approach to plant health, consideration of the entire value chain in agriculture and agroecology.
• Gain practical knowledge on improved tools for integrated pest management, including pest identification and diagnostic methods, application of smart agriculture (precision farming, robotics, artificial intelligence), plant resistance, biological control, behaviour modifiers and biotechnological solutions.
• Become familiar with initiatives for the adoption and scaling up of IPM practices through participatory approaches such as the EU IPMWORKS hub and FAO IPM Field Schools.
• Benefit from practical experience through case studies focusing on IPM systems in orchards, arable crops, protected vegetables and vine crops.
• Discuss the future of integrated pest management, identifying current weaknesses and opportunities in research, policy and stakeholder engagement.