Integrated and Ecological Crop Protection (I/ECP)

Manual on integrated and ecological crop protectio

Research on organic agriculture in the Netherlands : organisation, methodology and results

Chapters: 1. Organic agriculture in the Netherlands; 2. Dutch research on organic agriculture: approaches and characteristics; 3. Dutch knowledge infrastructure for organic agricultur'; 4. Sustainable systems; 5. Good soil: a good start; 6. Robust varieties and vigorous propagation material; 7. Prevention and control of weeds, pests and diseases; 8. Health and welfare of organic livestock; 9. Animal production and feeding; 10. Special branches: organic greenhouse production, bulbs, ornamentals and aquaculture; 11. Healthfulness and quality of products; 12. Economy, market and chain; 13. People and society. A publication of Wageningen UR and Louis Bolk Institut

Manual on prototyping methodology and multifunctional crop rotation

This VEGINECO manual is one of a series of publications resulting from the VEGINECO project. VEGINECO specialises in producing tested and improved multi-objective farming methods for key farming practices – e.g. crop rotation, fertilisation and crop protection – to facilitate the integration of potentially conflicting objectives like economy and ecology. This report consists of two parts. The first part describes the prototyping methodology and how it was used in the VEGINECO project (Chapters 2 - 5). The second part describes the methodology for developing crop rotation strategies with examples of its application under different conditions in Europe (Chapter 6 - 11)

Combining physical and cultural weed control with biological methods – prospects for integrated non-chemical weed management strategies

The paper deals with the possibilities of combining physical weed control with biological weed control

Recent results in the development of band steaming for intra-row weed control

The recent achievements with developing band-steaming techniques for intra-row weed control in vegetables are presente

Crop identification in the Netherlands by means of aerial false-colour film.

The technique gave valid results only for a specified area at a specified time of year. An identification table is given for the major crops in the polder areas of the Netherlands. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

Proceedings of the COST SUSVAR/ECO-PB Workshop on organic plant breeding strategies and the use of molecular markers

In many countries,national projects are in progress to investigate the sustainable low-input approach.In the present COST network,these projects are coordinated by means of exchange of materials,establishing common methods for assessment and statistical analyses and by combining national experimental results.The common framework is cereal production in low-input sustainable systems with emphasis on crop diversity.The network is organised into six Working Groups,five focusing on specific research areas and one focusing on the practical application of the research results for variety testing:1)plant genetics and plant breeding,2)biostatistics,3)plant nutrition and soil microbiology,4)weed biology and plant competition,5)plant pathology and plant disease resistance biology and 6)variety testing and certification.It is essential that scientists from many disciplines work together to investigate the complex interactions between the crop and its environment,in order to be able to exploit the natural regulatory mechanisms of different agricultural systems for stabilising and increasing yield and quality.The results of this cooperation will contribute to commercial plant breeding as well as official variety testing,when participants from these areas disperse the knowledge achieved through the EU COST Action

Biology and over-winter survival of Iris yellow spot virus in Colorado

2014 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) (Family: Bunyaviridae, Genus: Tospovirus) and its insect vector, Thrips tabaci Lindeman, are of economic concern in onion (Allium cepa L.) growing regions worldwide. IYSV symptoms appear on onion foliage as tan or straw colored, elongate diamond shaped lesions. Accumulated lesions may coalesce on the foliage or girdle the scape, causing lodging and loss of seed. There is no evidence that Tospoviruses, including IYSV, are seed transmitted. Onion seed included in double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (DAS-ELISA) to detect IYSV occasionally yielded a positive result. IYSV was detected in the pedicels, petals, anthers, and fruits of onion flowers by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Onion seed collected from several cultivars of IYSV symptomatic plants was grown out under greenhouse and growth chamber conditions. IYSV was not detected in the six week old seedlings. Further investigation of onion seeds revealed IYSV could be detected in the seed coat, but not the emerging radicle. It is highly unlikely that IYSV can pass from the seed coat to the new plant during germination, and seeds remain an unlikely source of IYSV inoculum. Several weed species have been described as additional hosts and likely green bridges for IYSV survival, however, there is little work regarding the overwintering habits of T. tabaci and its potential to act as a source of inoculum during the following season. The results presented in this work close the loop, and show that both T. tabaci and IYSV are present near onion fields throughout the winter, T. tabaci will reproduce on several weed species, and larvae can acquire IYSV from non-allium sources. Thrips activity was monitored via sticky trap during the winter months from 2011 to 2013. Thrips activity appeared to cease once the average temperature fell below 0°C and resumed once the average temperature rose above 0°C. Onion cull piles were constructed, and while these piles provided an environment conducive to thrips survival, few live thrips were recovered from the piles after the onset of bulb decay. IYSV was detected by RT-PCR in live adult and larval thrips recovered from onion, Malva neglecta Wallr. (common mallow), Taraxacum officinale Weber in Wiggers (dandelion), Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb. Ex Prantl (flixweed), Lactuca serriola L. (prickly lettuce), and Tragopogon dubius Scop. (salsify) during the winters from 2010 to 2013. Of these plants, IYSV was detected in prickly lettuce and flixweed. These five weed species were grown from seed in the greenhouse and exposed to viruliferous thrips to further elucidate their potential role as green bridges. Of the five, IYSV was detected in salsify and the thrips larvae reared on this plant. Results indicate winter annuals play a role in onion thrips and IYSV over-winter survival, providing inoculum the next growing season, and that weed management during the winter may be warranted. IYSV distribution throughout onion leaves is uneven and patchy. A reverse transcription quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR) was developed to compare relative amounts of IYSV within leaves and between cultivars. The amount of IYSV was greatest at the lesion site itself and decreased as distance from the lesion increased. No statistically significant differences were found in the amount of IYSV between susceptible cultivar Granero and tolerant cultivar Advantage. This assay may be useful for additional comparative studies with other crops and viruses

Final report on the VEGINECO project

Vegetable farming systems in Europe, Final report on the VEGINECO project

A method of using segmentation of color images and shape factors with frontier rates to identify onion and weeds in field

Dans cet article nous proposons une méthode pour résoudre le problème du recouvrement des feuilles d'oignons et des mauvaises herbes. Elle comporte trois étapes : Une segmentation des images en beaucoup de petit régions par la couleur; Une première fusion de ces petites régions à partir de l'étude des frontières et selon la couleur; Une seconde fusion suit une analyse de la forme des régions obtenues : si les petites régions peuvent reconstruire une forme de feuille d'oignon ou de feuille de mauvaises herbes, elles sont fusionnées , sinon elles ne le sont pas