Show it don't tell it: The value of demonstration farms

A joint workshop on the organization and benefits of IPM demonstration farms will be held in Bonn, Germany, 24-25 May 2016. The workshop is co-organized by the ERA-Net C-IPM, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Germany, and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE).

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a key element of the EU legislation on the sustainable use of plant protection products.  IPM strategies are regularly developed and adopted across the EU member states. However, these strategies differ widely across Europe, based on the local pedo-climatic conditions as well as the type of crops. IPM is thus a dynamic and holistic approach which requires the development and adoption of the best pest management strategies that can address long-term sustainability.

Some EU member states have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of current IPM measures and strategies to reduce reliance on plant protection products through demonstration farms while others are putting efforts in this approach. The approaches used differ markedly among the member states and there are valuable experiences to share. The demonstration farms are thus an important component of IPM which makes a direct link between research and practical management thereby facilitating IPM uptake and knowledge-sharing among advisors and farmers.

Within the ERA-Net C-IPM, demonstration farms are considered as an important tool to support IPM implementation. Likewise, the EU Expert Group on the Directive 2009/128/EC acknowledges the role of demonstration farms as a key system to disseminate innovative IPM techniques. Taking into account this fact, the workshop aims to promote exchange of information with practical examples that demonstration farms play on IPM implementation across EU member states and associated countries.

The main objectives of the workshop are to:

• present current experiences in EU member states with demonstration farms or other means of demonstrating IPM practices to farmers,
• identify synergies or possibilities to develop such synergies, and discuss elements for best practices for those EU member states considering the implementation of their own IPM demonstration farms,
• exchange knowledge about methods and approaches that can ensure the durability and permanent incorporation of the knowledge which farmers have acquired during their demonstration farm work and how these experienced farmers, in an ideal case, can become ambassadors for other farmers and the general public.

Dates and venue:

The workshop will be held in Bonn on 24 and 25 May 2016 and will benefit from the financial support of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Germany, and the ERA-Net C-IPM.  The workshop venue is the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture Rochusstr. 1 D-53123 Bonn, Germany.

A detailed agenda of the workshop is available here.

Please note that participation in the workshop is by invitation only. This means that only invited members of the ERA-Net C-IPM and EU SUD experts can attend the workshop. Invited people are requested to register here.

For more information please contact:

Jay Ram Lamichhane: Jay-Ram.Lamichhane@grignon.inra.fr

Wolfgang Zornbach: Wolfgang.Zornbach@bmel.bund.de