Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CONSERWA (Evidence-based support for transition to agroecological weed management in diverse farming systems and European regions)
Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2024-10-31
CONSERWA is built around the principles of agroecology to tackle weeding challenges in diverse pedoclimatic areas. However, challenges hinder agroecological adoption: (1) agroecological weed management is underutilized despite its proven benefits, (2) farmer uptake of even simple practices is limited due to insufficient policies, market mechanisms, and social infrastructure, and (3) climate change complicates weed control and raises uncertainties about the effectiveness of non-chemical tactics. CONSERWA aims to address these issues by compiling and optimizing agroecological practices under varying climate scenarios, supporting their implementation and impact measurement, enhancing knowledge sharing and decision-making tools, and analyzing factors affecting farmer adoption. Novel tools and analytical techniques are included in the plan as alternative weed management practices, to be applied in 9 case studies across Europe for sustainable and long-term solutions. They cover diverse crops, farming systems, and regions, complemented by farmer training and policy recommendations.
In the first period, the case studies were set up, accompanied by a study protocol detailing sampling frequency, numbers, analytical protocols and techniques. Additionally, the CONSERWA portfolio was delivered providing details of all the agroecological weed management techniques that will be applied in the case studies in combination with the novel tools and novel analytical techniques. The impact of these applications will be measured by a number of indicators selected and submitted in this period. The first versions of the tools and data models for the decision-support system have been delivered in this period. On the multi-actor approach CONSERWA investigates social and system factors influencing the adoption of AWM by farmers and food processors as well as documenting the opinions of consumers.
CONSERWA is routed in the principles of the Farm to Fork Strategy, which elaborates a systems approach to the agriculture and food sector’s sustainability, and the Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, establishing a vision for the protection and restoration of ecosystems. In a complementary manner, both strategies include reduction objectives pertaining to the prevalence of pesticides in European agriculture. CONSERWA tackles the us of pesticides for weed management and aims to reduce the overall use and risk of synthetic chemical pesticides by 50% and the use of more hazardous pesticides by 50% by 2030 and in this period, the CONSERWA indicators have been constructed to support the project's efforts beyond the state-of-the-after.