COLEOFAST

France is Europe’s leading seed producer and the world’s leading seed exporter. This sector, like the field crop sector, faces various challenges, among which the control of beetle pests is a key concern. The assessment conducted following the announcement that 75 active ingredients were at risk highlighted the urgent need to find alternatives for managing beetle pests. 

• Expand knowledge of these pests by conducting comprehensive reviews and detailed studies on their behavior, mobility, overwintering sites, damage potential
, and predators•    Explore innovative solutions for biocontrol and precision chemical control, including the development of techniques based on chemical ecology, such as the identification and use of pheromones and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for sexual confusion and attraction/repulsion. 
• Evaluate genetic leverage by deploying companion plants and push-pull strategies to limit beetle populations, while promoting natural predatory species.
• Evaluate solutions individually as well as in combination.
• Transfer this knowledge and these innovations to farmers and seed production
facilities 

• Pest research aims to gain a better understanding of the target beetle pests, their behavior and mobility, as well as their interactions with their environment, which will serve as the basis for developing effective alternative strategies.
•    Plant-scale solutions integrate the research, development, and testing of biocontrol and sustainable synthetic chemistry solutions; mass trapping of insects; monitoring and control methods using chemical mediators; and the search for levers related to genetics (varietal effect).
•    Solutions at the field and landscape scales involve implementing strategies based on push-pull techniques and service plants, soil-related levers (tillage and mulching), and, of course, the combination of levers derived from the various actions developed within COLEOFAST.
•    Knowledge transfer and implementation among farmers will encourage the adoption by all stakeholders in the sector—and particularly farmers—of the new practices identified in the project through, among other things, training, decision-support tools, and field demonstrations.