AGROSUS aim to identify appropriate tools and Agroecological Strategies (AS) to prevent and manage the occurrence of weeds in relevant crops, in conventional as well as organic and mixed farming, at all the 11 biogeographic regions of the EU and associated countries. Thus, AGROSUS aims to reduce reliance on synthetic herbicides and the associated pressure to the environment. The tools and strategies are being co-developed, in collaboration with stakeholders, for the most problematic weeds of the different regions and crops. So far, current weed management mainly relies on the massive use of conventional herbicides, which entails altering soil quality, inducing weed resistance, and compromising ecosystems’ and human health. The most appropriate means to prevent and manage weeds is developing and setting up appropriate combination of AS that would result in sustainable, safe, productive, climate-positive and resilient farming systems. These AS are being implemented in the main crops at all the European biogeographic regions (Continental–Mediterranean–Atlantic–Macaronesian–Pannonian–Anatolian–Black-Sea–Boreal–Alpine–Steppic–Arctic). With the long-term view of reducing and eventually eliminating the use of synthetic herbicides in the European agriculture, AGROSUS aims to unfold and introduce improved holistic agroecological strategies, co-created with all relevant actors, for the transformation of weed management in all the different European biogeographic regions, while increasing the delivery of ecosystem services and accompanying farmers in the new strategies adoption process.
AGROSUS has the overall ambition of “generating and exchanging knowledge, understanding and tools for agroecological weeding in all the biogeographic regions of Europe, while reducing herbicide reliance and increasing ecosystems biodiversity”. For that, AGROSUS will rely on: i) expanded knowledge on problematic weeds on European agriculture, current weeding techniques, and problems encountered by farmers and advisors (farmers and advisors were already engaged by surveys, interviews and co-creation workshops and will be engaged in co-validation workshops). ii) advanced detection tools (drones and robots are being tested in Madeira, Ukraine and Spain). iii) establishment of cultural, mechanical, physical, biological, and biotechnological AS in 68 short-term experimental units sprayed all over Europe (Experiments were co-deigned and stablished, although with important delays). iv) actions carried out with stakeholders and policy makers to promote the most appropriate initiatives at the field, administration and regulatory levels (mainly co-creation workshops), and v) technology transfer and training of stakeholders for prevention and management of weeds (not yet).
