PlantAlliance Conference: coping better with environmental variations
PlantAlliance Conference: coping better with environmental variations
How can plants cope with the effects of climate change, such as summer and fall droughts? In the face of increasing climatic hazards, growers are becoming increasingly concerned. This is why the PlantAlliance consortium organized a one-day symposium on "Plant resilience to environmental variations" on March 9, in webinar format.
This event was the first in a series dedicated to the response of plants to weather hazards and climate change. It was intended to identify research priorities of interest to the public and private scientific communities gathered within the PlantAlliance.
The effects of climate change on plant establishment and pests
During the day, David Gouache, deputy director of Terres Inovia, highlighted the institute's work to enable oilseed rape to cope with the major recent environmental changes: the effects of climate change on establishment conditions and those of the phytosanitary context, in particular the management of autumn pests. "With the withdrawal of phosmet only a few months away, it was an opportunity to review the work carried out and in progress at the Institute and to raise awareness among researchers of this major issue," explains David Gouache.
On a scientific level, the deputy director of Terres Inovia showed how the concept of environmental state variables could be used to link studies in agronomy, crop protection and genetics, and thus build integrated approaches. It was also an opportunity to show the importance of the robustness of each crop to have robust cropping systems.
New levers through the study of environmental state variables
Based on the results of the Syppre project's farmer networks, David Gouache showed that environmental state variables can also guide research strategies.
It is thus possible to work on new levers to optimize current key states (e.g. by unblocking autumn fertilization to ensure dynamic growth). Digital tools are thus better exploited, by targeting relevant variables for decision-making and improving practices.
New, more complex levers can be studied and integrated, such as "push-pull" approaches, and the increased role of beneficials in natural regulation: they will give rise to new key statements allowing farmers and advisors to pilot and evaluate these levers.
For more information, see David Gouache's presentation at the PlantAlliance day in attachment