Programme: Innovations and Competitiveness

EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE PROJECT: Root-knot nematodes cause up to 12% of crop losses of all major crops worldwide and are among the most persistent and economically important pests, damaging tens of billions of euros and biological damage annually. conventional farmers around the world. Conventional chemicals against this pest are gradually being withdrawn from the market in European countries due to the serious risks they pose to consumer health and soil and water pollution. The combined methods developed in this project will contribute to the effective and efficient control of the population of halibut nematodes in the soil and to the reduction of their damage to crops.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT BENEFITS: The innovative approaches to controlling halibut nematodes through soil solarisation and micro-organism inputs are both of great economic importance and vital for the health of consumers and the ecological balance of soil and water in the project. areas where intensive farming is being carried out globally. The methods developed in the project will allow the control of this widespread crop pest to be carried out without the use of polluting and harmful pesticides with the means that any conventional or biological farmer can apply at no significant cost. This will lead to a cleaner environment, pesticide-free agricultural production and lower cost.