IPMorama 1st Newsletter
Welcome Editorial
Dear Stakeholders,
We are pleased to introduce you to IPMorama, a new Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action focused on transforming variety-centric Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for key European crops – wheat, potatoes, soybeans, peas, and white lupins.
As climate change alters pathogen landscapes across Europe, and regulatory shifts drive the reduction of synthetic pesticides, breeders and farmers need new tools and approaches. IPMorama works at this critical interface, integrating genetic insights, real-time disease surveillance, and tailored IPM strategies.
With 17 partners from 10 countries, IPMorama officially started in September 2024 and brings together expertise in plant breeding, phytopathology, landscape epidemiology, and stakeholder engagement to address this challenge holistically.
In the future these newsletters will share scientific progress, stakeholder events, tool releases, and emerging insights to support breeding programs, advisory services, and farmers in adopting resilient crop varieties.
The IPMorama Team
Goal and focus of IPMorama
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach that combines multiple strategies and practices to prevent and manage plant diseases sustainably. It prioritizes using resistant varieties, cultural practices, monitoring, and biological control, while minimizing reliance on chemical pesticides. IPM is designed to be effective, economically viable, and environmentally sound.
In IPMorama, IPM is approached through a variety-centric lens, which means that the choice and deployment of crop varieties with specific resistance traits is the foundation for disease control. These genetic solutions are complemented by real-time surveillance, vulnerability mapping, and agronomic support tools to help farmers make locally adapted decisions. Our goal is to create a comprehensive, practical ecosystem for deploying IPM strategies informed by science and field realities.
IPMorama focuses on the five target crop-pest systems – these are combinations of economically important crops and the major diseases or pests that threaten them. They represent strategic points of intervention where variety-centric IPM can significantly reduce disease pressure and increase resilience:
Wheat – Rusts (yellow, stem, leaf)
Potatoes – Early and late blight
Soybean – Diaporthe/Phomopsis Complex
Pea – Broomrape
White lupin – Anthracnose
The core innovation lies in linking host resistance genetics with the geographic and temporal evolution of pathogen virulence. By doing so, IPMorama will deliver:
- Vulnerability maps that connect crop genetics with disease risk across Europe
- Crowdsourcing surveillance apps to feed real-time data into these maps
- Practice-ready IPM strategies embedding variety selection into farm-level decision-making
- Knowledge infrastructure to support breeders, advisors, and farmers in co-developing solutions
Kick Off Meeting
The IPMorama Kick-Off Meeting took place on October 3 – 4, 2024, hosted by the project coordinator Teagasc in Dublin. Over the course of two days, 17 consortium partners convened to establish the scientific, technical, and administrative foundations for the project’s work on variety-centric Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for wheat, potatoes, and grain legumes.
Discussions during the meeting focused on ensuring scientific excellence, effective coordination, and policy alignment. Special attention was given to integrating host resistance genetics with pathogen surveillance data, aligning with EU policy priorities related to sustainable pesticide reduction and resilience building in European farming systems.
Key sessions included:
- EU Policy Framework: Insights from DG SANTE and DG AGRI emphasized the importance of connecting IPMorama’s outputs with the Farm to Fork Strategy, Sustainable Use Regulation, and the CAP Strategic Plans.
- Project Management and Reporting: Led by Project Officer Alberto Pozza, this session provided guidance on ensuring compliance with Horizon Europe requirements and maintaining scientific and financial transparency throughout the project lifecycle.
- Data Management and Knowledge Infrastructure: The consortium discussed approaches to data harmonization, ensuring that pathogen monitoring data, varietal resistance profiles, and agronomic data feed into a cohesive knowledge platform.
- Dissemination and Exploitation Planning: Strategies were defined for translating scientific outputs into actionable tools, practice abstracts, and policy recommendations to ensure uptake along the entire value chain.
This initial alignment ensures that IPMorama operates at the intersection of cutting-edge science, policy relevance, and practical applicability – a necessary foundation to maximize the project’s contribution to EU strategic objectives
Wheat Rust Early Warning Campaign 2025
This spring, IPMorama and the RustWatch network are launching a pan-European early warning campaign to monitor wheat rust diseases—yellow rust, leaf rust, and stem rust—from April to June 2025.
The campaign uses the Wheat Rust Survey App to collect field observations across Europe, including reports from IPMorama partners in nine countries. Farmers, advisors, and researchers are encouraged to submit data on disease presence or absence, crop stage, and cultivar. Submissions feed into a real-time Wheat Rust Dashboard, offering immediate insights for stakeholders.
The effort is supported by the VCU network, which monitors disease pressure on over 100 trial sites and collects rust samples for race analysis.
“Uploading reports of ‘no disease’ is crucial to capture a full picture of rust dynamics.” — Valérie Cadot, GEVES
“These data will help detect new virulence combinations and support interpretation of resistance performance.” — Jens Grønbech Hansen, Aarhus University
Findings will support IPMorama’s Wheat Vulnerability Mapping Tool and guide future disease management strategies.
Read the whole news here.
Visibility & Outreach Activities
Media Appearances:
- Coverage of the IPMorama Kick-Off Meeting across project partner channels and social media, highlighting the project’s goals and initial activities. One such example is an article in SeedWorld, distributed by our partner GEVES, which introduced IPMorama to the international seed community, with a particular focus on how breeding and IPM solutions will benefit from the project’s outputs.
- IPMorama also gained visibility through Agriland, one of Ireland’s leading agricultural news outlets, emphasizing the relevance of the project for farmers, breeders, and agricultural advisors facing growing disease pressures and evolving EU policies.
- Another notable appearance was in Innovation News Network, a widely read science and innovation platform that highlighted IPMorama’s role in advancing sustainable farming practices and research-driven innovation, showcasing its alignment with broader EU sustainability and climate goals.
Events Participation:
- Presentation of IPMorama at the EuroBlight Workshop (May 2024), introducing the project to key stakeholders in the potato sector and gathering initial feedback.
- Recently, IPMorama was presented in the RustWatch Network Meeting on wheat rust surveillance. Another notable opportunity to interact with relevant stakeholders.
- IPMorama will also be presented at The International Agricultural Fair and International scientific conference on potato breeding & genetics ensuring visibility across multiple relevant scientific and industry platforms.
- IPMorama will further extend its visibility through participation at Science Blast, where the project will engage with younger audiences, fostering awareness and curiosity about sustainable agriculture and the role of plant breeding and IPM in future food systems.
- Planned contribution to the International Cereal Rusts and Powdery Mildews Conference in June 2025 to showcase IPMorama’s surveillance tools and genetic insights.
Spotlight: Synergies in Action
IPMorama actively builds on and collaborates with projects like RustWatch and EuroBlight, ensuring that results from past and parallel initiatives are leveraged to maximise impact and accelerate deployment. We also warmly welcome any organisation, researcher, advisor, or stakeholder who sees relevance in IPMorama’s work to connect with us, exchange knowledge, and explore collaboration opportunities. Together, we can further strengthen Europe’s capacity for sustainable, resilient crop production.