IWMPRAISE is a first mover

IWMPRAISE is the first EU research and innovation project solely addressing weed management, as was presented at an EU conference in Brussels.

Despite the fact that herbicides are used routinely and are the main cause of pesticide contamination of surface and ground water, research in integrated weed management has received little attention. This is where IWMPRAISE is a game changer, as was presented by Professor Per Kudsk from the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University and leader of the Horizon 2020 project IWMPRAISE at the EU Agri-Research Conference in Brussels 2-3 May 2018. The conference was about EU agriculture and rural research and innovation activities now and in the future.

At the conference, which had the theme “Innovating for the future of farming and rural communities” Per Kudsk gave a presentation about IWMPRAISE in the session “Healthy plants, animals and ecosystems for healthy people – Achievements, activities and gaps under Horizon 2020”.

As Per Kudsk pointed out, IWMPRAISE is the first EU research and innovation project solely addressing weed management. In his presentation, he explained the key features of IWMPRAISE, including the fact that the project uses national clusters to accommodate a truly multi-actor approach, overcome language barriers and ensure locally adapted solutions, and that it addresses current socio-economic barriers to the uptake of integrated weed management.

The project uses case scenarios that include four different management systems and are located in the participating countries in a north-south gradient so that the diverse European cropping systems are covered.

You can view the slides from Per Kudsk’s presentation here.

The EU Agri-Research Conference assembled over 500 scientists, farmers, advisors, policy-makers, people from rural communities, industry, and NGO’s, and others who were interested in learning about EU agriculture, and rural research and innovation activities and achievements, and to have their say on how to shape the future of agriculture research and innovation after 2020.

Read more about the EU Agri-Research Conference here. The presentations were recorded and you can also find a link to the recordings on this page.