Special Lunch Session 1 - May 21

Constraints and challenges of the development of novel bio-pesticides

Organisers: Philippe Jacques (ULiège-Gembloux Agro-BioTech, project BIOCOMGEST), François Krier (ULille, project BIOPROD), Jenny Neukermans (PCG, project BIOPROTECT), Sylvain Desprez (Materia Nova, project BIOSENS), Essaïd Ait Barka (UReims, project BIOSCREEN)

The use of conventional synthetic chemicals in agriculture generates a degradation of the water and air quality and has recognized impacts on the biodiversity and human health. Moreover, the absence of available bio-sourced products impedes the implementation of an agro-ecological treatment or the transition from the conventional agriculture to a sustainable agriculture. The portfolio of projects SMARTBIOCONTROL (Interreg V – http://www.smartbiocontrol.eu/) gathers a large panel of experts in the cross-boundary region of Belgium and France, with as an overall objective the development of new performant biological products to fight against crop diseases. It is based on a pilot project (BIOCOMGEST) and four very distinct constitutive projects which are strongly interconnected to select new bio-sourced ingredients (molecules or micro-organisms, BIOSCREEN), to develop their production on an industrial scale (BIOPROD), to evaluate their efficiency under agronomic conditions (BIOPROTECT) and to assure their monitoring on the fields (BIOSENS).

In this session, the major outcomes of the SMARTBIOCONTROL portfolio of projects will be presented and discussed. The aim of the lunch session is to exchange information about the project, and to discuss the overall constraints and challenges of the development of new bio-pesticides.

Partners of the SMARTBIOCONTROL project will be encouraged to submit abstracts of their research in the relevant IUPAC sessions.