The brochure takes a step by step approach to IPM for brassica crops such as cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli and brassica oilseeds such as oilseed rape. It examines the importance of breeding for resistant and healthy plants, reporting on work being conducted in Portugal where researchers have identified traditional cabbage and kale varieties as potential sources of resistance to downy mildew.
Turning to tools for pest and disease monitoring and forecasting, it reports on a Slovenian company that has developed an automated pest monitoring system using pheromone traps to provide farmers and advisory services with a real-time overview of insect populations in their fields.
The brochure underlines the importance of sharing knowledge for better pest and disease management, noting that by joining forces and exchanging knowledge, farmers, advisers and researchers from different European Union countries can contribute to finding practical and innovative solutions.
It offers the following five tips for reducing pest and disease damage:
- Manage crop rotations in a way that leaves enough time between brassica crops
- Use healthy, certified seeds
- Plant resistant or tolerant varieties
- Remove infected debris on the field
- Apply adapted irrigation strategies for brassicas, to help control downy mildew and black rot
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