The best way forward to meet the current and future plant health challenges is through the improved coordination and collaboration of all the actors in the phytosanitary area. Euphresco members are keen to broaden the network, both geographically and in terms of the missions of its member organizations. The efforts made in 2021 have resulted in two new organizations joining the network: the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency of the Republic of Korea and Cab International. This new membership and the new collaborations that will open in 2022 will bring many benefits as they will give Euphresco an almost global insight into plant health issues and will contribute to a greater exposure of research outputs.
Selected Euphresco members have started working to address the important recommendations from the network evaluation (described below) in order to rationalise the strategy and the operations of a growing network.
Evaluation of the Euphresco network
An evaluation was undertaken in 2020 to assess how the Euphresco network has addressed its strategic objectives and to review the impact that the network’s activities have had on plant health research and policy. The executive summary of the evaluation was published on Zenodo. The Network Management Group reviewed the recommendations of the impact evaluation and identified the most urgent recommendations to address:
Recommendation 1- Strategy: to clarify the role that Euphresco should come to play in future.
Recommendation 2- Strategy: Euphresco to become a model for similar initiatives or to continue its expansion at international level.
Recommendation 3- Strategy: to clarify Euphresco’s relations vis-à-vis other relevant institutional policymakers such as the International Plant Protection Convention, the Regional Plant Protection Organizations, the European Commission, the European Food Safety Authority, the Quadrilaterals and complementarities with other plant health research stakeholders.
Recommendation 14- Results and impact: to define indicators to evaluate impacts of Euphresco projects.
Recommendation 18- Visibility and external communication: to upgrade Euphresco’s website.
The work on the recommendations was endorsed by the Euphresco Governing Board and work is ongoing, under the leadership of experts from the Austrian Agency for health and Food Safety (AT), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies of Bari (IT), the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (GB), the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (BE) and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NL).
Plant Health research priorities for the Mediterranean region
Euphresco and CIHEAM of Bari have launched in 2020 a series of initiatives to strengthen plant health research coordination and collaboration in the Mediterranean region. The ‘Compendium on the Plant Health research priorities for the Mediterranean region’ was published in 2020. On the basis of the compendium’s recommendations, workshops were organized in 2021. An international workshop was held on 2021-05-12 to discuss research topics with high-level representatives of Mediterranean countries. Research topics were developed with the help of the national contact points appointed to coordinate the work in the participating countries (Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey) and the international organizations that agreed to join the initiative. Three research topics have been shortlisted on the diagnosis of Xylella fastidiosa, the diagnosis of citrus tristeza virus and the epidemiology of tomato brown rugose fruit virus. More details on the research topics proposed are available in the section ‘National research priorities currently under discussion (2022 call)’. A supplement to the Compendium will be published in early spring 2022.
Transnational research collaboration to start soon
Discussions on the research topics proposed in 2021 have come to an end, collaborations have been secured between organizations in thirty-seven countries worldwide and fifteen research projects will start soon on the following topics:
2021-I-372 Identifying IPM measures for selected pest/crop combinations, to improve plant health and decrease dependency on chemical pesticides
The project will identify crop/pest combinations where alternatives to non-chemical pesticides are particularly needed and will address the scientific/technical gaps to encourage stakeholders to adopt integrated pest management practices.
2021-A-373 Fast detection methods for quarantine Tephritidae
The project will make an inventory of existing or currently developed diagnostic tests for the rapid detection and identification of Tephritidae spp. and will validate them.
2021-A-374 Diagnosis and epidemiology of viruses infecting cereal crops
The project will increase the knowledge on the epidemiology of cereal viruses and their vectors and reservoirs and will contribute to support the development/validation of diagnostic tests.
2021-A-37 Infrastructure for sharing infested seed lots for test development and validation
The project will develop criteria and protocols to characterise infested seed lots and will support the establishment of a platform to facilitate the access and exchange of infested seed lots, including legal requirements.
2021-A-378 Inventory and validation of quality control procedures for the extraction of nucleic acids for real-time PCR used for the diagnosis of pests
The project will collect information on the DNA/RNA extraction procedures used in the participating laboratories and available from the literature. Procedures will be validated on a wide range of plant matrixes infected with pathogens of interest in order to formulate recommendations for diagnostic laboratories.
2021-C-382 Potential for using IPM tools to eradicate box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis)
The project will validate integrated pest management methods against Cydalima perspectalis. These methods will include enhanced survey and detection methods, the sterile insect technique, mating disruption, and pesticide treatments.
2021-A-383 Xylophilus ampelinus presence and accurate detection in nurseries and vineyards
The project will develop knowledge on the epidemiology of X. ampelinus and will support diagnostic activities by improving the availability of reference isolates and by validating molecular tests.
2021-A-386 Preventing Meloidogyne graminicola spread in European rice paddies
The project will develop knowledge on the epidemiology of Meloidogyne graminicola in Europe and in particular in the Mediterranean region; the project will support diagnostic activities by improving the availability of reference isolates and by validating molecular tests.
It is still possible for organisations to join consortia, provided that their contributions will fit within the Euphresco research framework. In-kind contributions and alignment of existing research activities allows organisations to join the Euphresco consortia without committing monetary funds. Any request for participation in the above-mentioned projects should be sent to the Euphresco coordinator.
National research priorities currently under discussion
Euphresco projects start as ideas, based on national priorities and proposed by each Euphresco member. Through discussions, exchange and networking, the suggestions become projects. New suggestions for 2022 have been submitted by Belgium, Belarus, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies of Bari. The list of suggested topics is available from the Euphresco website and expressions of interest can be sent to the Euphresco coordinator.
Open access reports and recommendations to policy makers
Since its creation, Euphresco has adopted an open science approach, i.e. the most important research outputs are publicly accessible. In the last months, several interesting projects ended and final reports with recommendations to policy makers are available on Zenodo.
Project 2015-F-172 The application of Next-Generation Sequencing technology for the detection and diagnosis of non-culturable organisms: viruses and viroids
Project 2018-F-274Corythucha arcuata (Heteroptera, Tingidae): Evaluation of the pest status in Europe and development of survey, control and management strategies
Project 2017-F-234 Set up of reliable detection protocols for the specific identification of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium’
Project 2016-A-199 Global warming and distribution of root-knot nematode species of the tropical group
Project 2016-F-2018Epitrix species, life cycles and detection methods
Project 2017-C-257 Role of weed hosts as pathogen reservoirs of insect vectored diseases
Project 2016-A-212 Assessment of a generic method for the detection of begomoviruses
Latest success story: the evolutionary history of fall armyworm invasion
Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm) is a polyphagous pest with more than 350 host plants. It is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, but its geographical distribution has changed considerably in the last years. Since the first report of Spodoptera frugiperda in West Africa in 2016, the pest has been officially reported from many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South and East Asia and Oceania. One of the goals of the Euphresco project FAW-Spedcom (2019/07-2021/12) was to increase knowledge on Spodoptera frugiperda through the study of the genomic signatures of populations established in different areas in order to understand the genetic basis of their ecological adaptation. The analysis of the genome of the 177 specimens (78 from invaded countries and 99 from areas of origin) provided some interesting results. The full success story is available here.
Knowing more about Euphresco
Anybody interested in receiving information on the Euphresco activities can subscribe to the newsletter by completing the form on the Euphresco website. Those interested in participating in Euphresco projects can contact the Euphresco coordinator.
