A look back at the Bettendorf agricultural field trials annual presentation

On June 17, 2016, LIST's researchers specialized in the environmental domain and specifically in crop protection contributed to the annual presentation of the field trials carried out at the central agricultural experimental station in Bettendorf managed by the Lycée Technique Agricole (LTA) and the Centrale Paysanne.

About 250 participants were welcomed by Tom Delles, director of the LTA, who stressed the importance of field trial facilities for the technical training of the students. The president of the farmer’s cooperative Marc Fisch summarized the current situation of the farming sector in Luxembourg and expressed particular concern about the increasing transformation of arable land into settlements, infrastructure and nature conservation areas.

The minister for agriculture, viticulture and consumer protection, Fernand Etgen, informed the participants about the current state of the new agricultural law and some of its details. He pointed out that the government perceives forecast models as they are developed within the course of the SENTINELLE project carried out by the LIST as a suitable means to reduce pesticide use as well as to improve water quality, but also that further innovation for reducing the risks associated with the use of technologies like pesticides is needed.

Afterwards, a guided tour across the experimental fields was organized, where the participants could convince themselves of novel developments in agricultural techniques and management practices covering the domains of organic production, cultivar assessments, comparison of fertilization regimes, LTA training schemes and crop protection.

LIST's experts from the Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) department shared their knowledge with the participants: Dr. Marco Beyer presented LIST's crop protection activities with a focus on the integrated management of biotrophic fungi on cereals and Dr. Michael Eickermann explained what we can learn from long-term observations on pests of rapeseed.

> For any further information, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Beyer or Dr. Eickermann via email.