Objectives of the platform

• Research programs aiming at developing innovative chemical, biological, physical, genetic and cultural control methods;
• Development of IPM and ICM programs;
• Development of Decision Support Systems and models for crop protection;
• Breeding programs;
• Farmers’ field surveys to assess and rank the main pest problems within a given region;
• Epidemiological studies;
• Weed science studies;
• Entomological studies;
• Analyses of injury-damage relationships;
• And crop protection in itself.

Many references and tools have been produced in order to help identify and quantify pest injuries and pest populations (e.g. Sweets and Wright, 2008). However, this information is scattered and somewhat difficult to localise when one wants to characterise injury profiles (i.e a given combination of injury levels caused by a range of pests during a crop cycle; Savary et al, 2006). In addition, there is usually a wide variety of methods to characterise a given pest pressure (being a pest injury or a pest population).
The aim of this methodological platform is to help design protocols to characterise injuries due to pests or pest populations. It does not aim at listing all available protocols used to characterise pest populations at the field level, but rather at providing references, methods and tools to help the development of protocol adapted to specific objectives.
The structure of this methodological platform includes five main sections, which correspond to either a knowledge valuation approach or a documentary management approach: see the presentation of these sections here.

Download the QuantiPest presentation leaflet here!