Contact
Christian Cilas
Head of Unit
Montpellier, France
E-mail
Pests and Diseases: Risk Analysis and Control
This new research unit, founded on 1 January 2011, associates teams from two former units: Controlling Pests and Diseases in Tree Crops, and Locust Ecology and Control.
Presentation of the former Controlling Pests and Diseases in Tree Crops Research Unit
Pests and diseases hamper the productivity and sustainability of most crops, and some also affect product quality. They are a particular concern with perennial crops, since the damage may accumulate over the years. The long life span of such crops thus calls for agroecological management methods that reduce the long-term impact of these threats. Developing such management strategies means looking for sources of sustainable resistance, but also establishing appropriate crop management sequences and cropping systems.
The unit’s work centres on disease epidemiology and pest population dynamics. Its results serve to develop plant-pest and disease models for the main hazards, which are in turn used to define management systems suited to the socioeconomic situations of perennial crop producers.
Presentation of the former Locust Ecology and Control Research Unit
Locusts are a major threat to agriculture in many world regions. The damage caused can be considerable, particularly since the mobility of the insects means that invasions rapidly occur on a regional, if not continental, scale. To control this pest, it is vital to organize population surveillance and control outbreaks.
The unit aims to solve the problems posed by locust pests, primarily in the tropical zones of Africa, the Near East, Asia and Latin America. Its research is aimed at providing a clearer understanding of what determines outbreaks, introducing agricultural surveillance and early warning systems, and developing new, more effective, more economical and more ecologically acceptable control methods.