Biodiversity management in organic greenhouses – Webinar available

In the frame of in the IPMWORKS project, we hosted a webinar on greenhouses and biodiversity – the last one in a series on organic practices. Hosting the webinar, Alba Saez, R&I coordinator at IFOAM Organics Europe introduced the topic and its contribution to the EU Green Deal’s goals and  pointing out that more and more farmers understand the role of biodiversity in farming. Two experts shared their research experience on biodiversity management in organic greenhouses.

Mónica González, part of Agrobio‘s R&D department, started research on the selection of native shrubs to promote the presence of beneficial auxiliary biodiversity in greenhouses in 2010. Mónica gave an overview of biodiversity’s role in managing pests and diseases, highlighting that effective biocontrol requires an abundance and diversity of crops’ natural enemies – in balance with naturally existing plant species within and outside the greenhouse. She also talked about ecological infrastructures promoting functional diversity, such as hedgerows, biodiversity islands, and cover crops. All information is available in Mónica’s presentation for the IPMWORKS webinar on greenhouses and biodiversity.

Jérôme Lambion, agronomist at the Research Group for Organic Farming (GRAB) focussing on applied research on crop protection in greenhouses continued. sharing his experience in Southern France, an area where greenhouses are the dominant type of organic vegetable production, Jérome talked about how to integrate service plants in greenhouse horticulture to improve pest control. He presented clear steps to take to manage the functional biodiversity in a greenhouse through habitat management or conservation. These steps included identifying service plants and integrating them into the cropping system through various agroecological infrastructures. His presentation is available online.

If you found this topic interesting, you may also like IPMWORKS’ other webinars:

• #1 on minimising the use of copper in orchards, outdoor vegetable farms and vineyards; and
•  #2 on weed control in organic arable farms

These webinars were part of the EU-funded project IPMWORKS. The project promotes the adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies, based on a EU-wide network of farmers, who will both progress further in the adoption of IPM – through peer-to-peer learning and joint efforts – and demonstrate to other farmers holistic IPM approaches. IFOAM Organics Europe is a partner in the project.

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