Understanding, implementing and advancing integrated pest management (IPM) is under discussion at the 2014 HGCA Agronomists’ Conference.

Taking place at Peterborough Arena on 9 December, the full-day technical conference will see leading experts focus on three IPM areas: performance of plant protection products, rethinking rotations and using monitoring techniques to best effect.

Susannah Bolton, HGCA Head of Research and Knowledge Transfer, said: “Under the EU Sustainable Use Directive, all users of professional pesticides are required to demonstrate they are using IPM solutions ‘to help prevent and/or suppress harmful organisms’.

“IPM solutions come in many forms and most are already practiced to some degree by arable farmers but it is essential that we continue to develop our thinking in this area.

“The conference has two main aims – firstly, to help ensure practitioners base IPM decisions on scientific evidence and secondly, to present the latest advances to allow practitioners to take IPM techniques to the next level.”

Maintaining protection

The first session will look at the effectiveness of plant protection products (PPPs), including the latest fungicide performance information for wheat and barley.

The session will also explore how to design flexible fungicide programmes for maximum impact within the season while reducing resistance issues over the longer term. Delivered by Neil Paveley, ADAS Head of Plant Disease Management, the pros and cons of core, non-core and split spray timings will be presented along with thoughts on how strategies could be adapted within the season to account for weather variability.

Rethinking rotations

It’s long been known that rotations are best planned over several years to get the most out of land, labour, machinery and other resources. However, increasing pressures – such as those resulting from low grain prices, CAP reform and black-grass – are forcing many to rethink the way rotations are planned.

Jack Watts, AHDB Market Intelligence Lead Analyst, will discuss how relatively small increases in the production of some crops, including spring crops, may have the potential to overwhelm markets and drive prices down. Mr Watts will also outline how growers may need to look beyond gross margins and concentrate more on controlling fixed costs to cultivate successful arable businesses.

WIth many growers looking to diversify rotations, the rotations session will also take a ‘devil’s-in-the-detail’ look at the underpinning agronomy behind the cultivation of spring and winter barley, as well as pulses.

Monitoring to best effect

Of all the EU Member States, Denmark arguably has been one of the most proactive countries in embedding IPM culture within its agricultural production systems.

With a focus on practical examples of monitoring, Jens Erik Jensen, a senior adviser at the Knowledge Centre for Agriculture based in Denmark, will outline how agricultural and environmental policies have been reshaped in Denmark to support a greater use of IPM as part of the country’s ‘Green Growth’ programme.

The conference will conclude with a look at the ‘golden years of aphid monitoring’. Richard Harrington, Head of Rothamsted Insect Survey at Rothamsted Research, will provide a comprehensive overview of the suction-trap network, which began operating 50 years ago in 1964.

The paper will showcase the goldmine of data gathered over the years and how, combined with other sources of monitoring data, it is used to provide timely information on the abundance and resistance status of crop aphids.

The conference will also include thoughts on how oilseed rape has fared in the current season without the protection of neonicotinoid seed treatments.

Registration

Attendance costs £45 (including conference papers, lunch, refreshments and VAT).

BASIS and NRoSO points have been applied for.

For further information, or to book a place, visit hgca.com/events or email events@hgca.ahdb.org.uk or call 024 7647 8724.

The event will also be live streamed over the internet and full videos of all presentations will be made available shortly after the event – for further information, keep an eye on www.hgca.com