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NTU course leader secures 12-month collaborative project supported by UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Course Leader Karen Rial-Lovera has been awarded a 12-month collaborative project with DEFRA, which aims to identify priority research areas concerning the practical inclusion of farmland trees within integrated pest management (IPM) strategies in agricultural landscapes in England and Wales.

Sheep in field

The project is featured within the Future Proofing Plant Health programme, a collaborative project led by Botanic Gardens Kew with NTU, Cranfield University and Imperial College London.

“The scope of our investigation includes diversity of tree species, their arrangement (e.g. as hedges, shelterbelts, small copses or individual trees) and their management, with a primary focus on arable and grassland systems,” Karen went on to tell us about the project.

“There is growing interest in the range of ecosystem services provided by trees and shrubs on farmland, with recent studies investigating the benefits of agroforestry systems on the abundance of natural enemies of agricultural pests in surrounding arable and grassland systems.”

“The project is led by researchers at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Nottingham Trent University, Cranfield University and Imperial College London (ICON), and has two main objectives,” she went on to explain.

“One aim is to collate opinions on the priority research questions concerning the role of farmland trees on integrated pest management in grassland and arable systems in England and Wales, by engaging with stakeholders representing areas from agricultural policy, research, advisory services and industry.”

“The second aim is to use stakeholder feedback to steer a review of published literature, highlighting where further research could be justified to fill knowledge gaps which currently prevents effective use of woody perennial species in IPM approaches in agricultural settings.”

“In summary, this exciting project seeks to provide light into the priority research areas needed for the practical inclusion of farmland trees and to evaluate their contribution to integrated pest management strategies (IPM) in agricultural landscapes in England and Wales.”

Published on 2 February 2021
  • Subject area: Animal, equine and wildlife
  • Category: School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
  • Location: Brackenhurst Campus