CROPROTECT is an ambitious new project which plans to revolutionise knowledge exchange for crop protection by making use of 21st century web-based technologies which mean that practical information about crop protection can be shared and exchanged very easily. It is developing and providing a two-way web-based free knowledge exchange resource through which farmers and agronomists can get specific information relevant to their needs. In this presentation Toby Bruce from Rothamsted Research, who is the contact for the project, explains what it aims to achieve and how it will develop. Farmers face a continuous battle against pests, weeds and diseases. To ensure efficient production, pest management solutions are required for crop protection. These challenges have been managed primarily with pesticides for the last few decades but now alternative solutions need to be delivered. Crop protection is getting more difficult, not only because pesticides are being restricted by legislation but also because the remaining ones which are still available are less effective as pests, weeds and diseases evolve resistance to them. Farmers are caught in a difficult situation because of dependency on pesticide. Their crops have been bred in a pesticide treated background and without the pesticides crop losses to pests, weeds and diseases mean that both yield and quality can be seriously compromised. Currently pesticides are being lost at a much faster rate than they are being replaced with alternatives. As well as novel control solutions, farmers need better information about what can be done. Alternative approaches are often more complicated relying on a combination of resistant cultivars, biocontrol, agronomic practices and rationalised, better targeted pesticide use. Information about integrated pest, weed and disease management is scattered in disparate places which are hard for busy farmers to track down for every pest, weed and disease threat they face. The capacity to share information via the internet is tremendous and access is increasingly via mobile devices. These have the potential to reach a wide audience in the farming community, to provide rapid updates and to interact more with the users. In the internet age, availability of information is not the main constraint, there is more of an issue of accessing relevant information. CROPROTECT provides content which is relevant to the users by interacting with them, asking what their priorities are and encouraging feedback. Because electronic documents are living documents and can be adjusted unlike printed documents, there is an opportunity to continuously refine the information provided as the system evolves. The project is funded by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Club (SARIC), a joint BBSRC and NERC initiative to support innovative projects that will provide solutions to key challenges affecting the efficiency, productivity and sustainability of the UK crop and livestock s

1. Slide 1 05/06/2015
Rothamsted Research
where knowledge grows
Rothamsted Research
where knowledge grows
CROPROTECT
web based knowledge
exchange for crop
protection

2. Slide 2 05/06/2015
http://croprotect.
rothamsted.ac.uk/
112
pioneer
users

3. Slide 3 05/06/2015
CROPROTECT
is a web-based knowledge exchange system to
provide farmers and agronomists with guidance
on pest, weed and disease management

4. Slide 4 05/06/2015
Information is needed because crop protection is
becoming more difficult due to pesticide resistance
and restrictions on use

5. Slide 5 05/06/2015
Information is needed because crop protection is
becoming more difficult due to pesticide resistance
and restrictions on use

6. Slide 6 05/06/2015
Information is needed because crop protection is
becoming more difficult due to pesticide resistance
and restrictions on use

7. Slide 7 05/06/2015
Why is it needed?

8. Slide 8 05/06/2015
EC Directive 2009-128
A framework “Promoting the use of IPM and
of alternative approaches”

9. Slide 9 05/06/2015
Promoting
IPM and use
of
alternatives
Reducing risks
and impacts of
pesticide use on
human health
and environment
Development of “Alternatives” is urgently
needed
EC Directive 2009-128

10. Slide 10 05/06/2015
Development of “Alternatives” is urgently
needed

11. Slide 11 05/06/2015

12. Slide 12 05/06/2015

13. Slide 13 05/06/2015
CROPROTECT
Better access to info about crop
protection

14. Slide 14 05/06/2015

15. Slide 15 05/06/2015
Ag extension networks
●
●
●● ●
●●●●●●●X 1000 ?
CROPROTECT

16. Slide 16 05/06/2015
Information sources
Grower input on their local
crop protection challenges
Information delivery
- solutions relevant to the location &
its specific problems
Information processing +
design of IPM systems
Geographic
information system
Include cropping history
Web portal
Which pests, weeds,
diseases are a problem?
Novel combinations of tactics
New solutions as alternatives to
pesticides
Industry and academic
Identify best practices for
pest management
①
②
③
④
⑤
CROPROTECT

17. Slide 17 05/06/2015
Partners

18. Slide 18 05/06/2015
Partners
diseases weeds web

19. Slide 19 05/06/2015
@croprotect

20. Slide 20 05/06/2015
Pioneer users
We ask users what there
priority pest, weed and
disease targets are

21. Slide 21 05/06/2015
TARGET MENTIONS
Aphid 35
Slugs 32
Black grass 30
septoria 27
yellow rust 19
cleavers 16
cabbage stem flea beetle 15
light leaf spot 15
fusarium head blight 14
annual meadow grass 13
brome 13
charlock 13
phoma 13
pollen beetle 12
sclerotinia 12
wild oats 12
chocolate spot 11
brown rust 10
dock 10
early blight (alternaria) 10
bruchid beetle 9
chickweed 9
Nematodes 9
net blotch 9
rhynchosporium 9
cranesbill 8
leatherjackets 8
pea & bean weevil 8
powdery mildew 8
barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) 7
broad leaved weeds (generic BLW) 7
crown rust 7
late blight (phytophthora) 7
mayweed 7
orange wheat blossom midge 7
ryegrass 7
thistles 7
turnip yellows virus (TuYV) 7
downy mildew 6

22. Slide 22 05/06/2015
Rothamsted Research
where knowledge grows
Rothamsted Research
where knowledge grows
Website is live:
http://croprotect.rothamsted.ac.uk/

23. Slide 23 05/06/2015
Pest info http://croprotect.rothamsted.ac.uk/pests

24. Slide 24 05/06/2015
Weed info http://croprotect.rothamsted.ac.uk/weeds

25. Slide 25 05/06/2015
Disease info http://croprotect.rothamsted.ac.uk/diseases

26. Slide 26 05/06/2015
Rothamsted Research
where knowledge grows
Rothamsted Research
where knowledge grows
Website is live:
http://croprotect.rothamsted.ac.uk/
Smartphone App will be coming soon

27. Slide 27 05/06/2015
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Club (SARIC)