INRA - News of the INRA Plant Health and Environment Division

All the news

Honeybee foraging © Yves Le Conte

News

20 Sep 2018

Pesticide mixtures slow down bees' foraging activity

INRA researchers and their partners have identified a new sublethal effect of pesticide mixtures on bees, characterized by perturbations of their energy metabolism and a decline in performance. Their research was recently published in Science of the Total Environment.

Zoospores de Phytophthora parasitica (exprimant de la GFP) ayant germé sur racine de tomate et ayant formé des appressoriums qui permettent au micro-organisme de pénétrer dans les tissus de l’hôte. Boules vertes et creuses : zoospore, boules pleines : appressoriums. Coloration à l’iodure de propidium marquant les parois et noyaux.. © INRA, LE BERRE Jo-Yann

News

03 Sep 2018

Mildew infection regulated by composition of the root microbiota

How the root microbiota of the tomato participates in mildew infection: results in favour of a biocontrol strategy.

Adult chrysoperla carnea © Matthias Tschumi

Press release

03 Aug 2018

Semi-natural habitats help keep pests and weeds in check

Conserving semi-natural habitats such as forests, hedges and semi-natural permanent grasslands can be beneficial to the natural enemies of crop pests and weeds, and thus help farmers indirectly. A large international consortium involving INRA researchers (1) has shown that when it comes to landscape composition and the affect it has on the natural regulation of pests and predators, responses vary widely. The studies also showed that landscape alone is not in itself an efficient means to regulate crop pests.

Sampling vegetation in Patagonia by team from Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology, as a part of the BIOCOM project, financed by a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC) © Juan Gaitán

Press release

31 Jul 2018

Protecting biodiversity to ensure ecosystem stability

For the first time ever on a worldwide scale, an international team of researchers has demonstrated the positive influence of plant biodiversity on ecosystem stability. The team included researchers from INRA and the Chizé Centre for Biological Studies (CNRS, University of La Rochelle) and scientists from Argentina and Spain. Using satellite data and field surveys of 123 dryland sites around the world, researchers were able to show that biodiversity’s role in influencing ecosystems is as important as the role of climate or soil.

A Xysticus sp. spider devouring a caterpillar of the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana © Sylvie Richart-Cervera

Press release

18 Jul 2018

Organic farming favours pest regulation

Scientists from INRA, Université de Rennes 1 and their colleagues have demonstrated that organic farming favours the natural regulation and control of pests – pathogens, insects and weeds.

1