élargissement et pérennisation du réseau de protection des végétaux

Written by Shannti Dinnoo Karine Payet-Lebourges Modified on the

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  • © Issa MzeHassani
  • Adultes, nymphes, larves et oeufs de l'aleurode.
  • Eddy Barret, producteur maraîcher de la Réunion impliqué dans le projet de Gestion Agroécologique des Mouches des légumes.

ePRPV, the programme for the enlargement and sustainability of the plant protection network, was an active project between 2008 and 2015.

Its aim was to strengthen and to sustain the achievements of the PRPV, the Regional Plant Protection Programme, in the field of plant health and biodiversity conservation in islands of the South-West Indian Ocean.


Agriculture is an important sector of the national economy of the Indian Ocean Commission ( IOC)  five member states: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion Island and Seychelles. In these countries, it is confronted with numerous technical and plant health related constraints that are themselves the consequence of pests and diseases on crops with high economic value, such as fruits and vegetables.

The island ecosystems of the five IOC countries share many phytosanitary problems due to their geographical proximity and thei ecological similarity. Many phytosanitary issues were solved by the services of plant protection and agricultural research of the IOC countries, thanks to collaborations and research undertaken in the course of the Regional Plant Protection Programme (in French PRPV, 2003-2008). Other issues still remained to be addressed.

 
Support team
  • National Focal Point, Eric Jeuffrault, Cirad, Regional Director, Email
  • Executive scientist, Bernard Reynaud, Université de La Réunion, Director of the Pôle de Protection des Plantes (3P), Email
  • Technical assistants, Shannti Dinnoo (journalist), Micheline Baptiste (librarian) and Henri Brouchoud (computer engineer)

 

Activities

Activities of ePRPV spread across 5 main project components.

1 : Policy, legal and institutional frameworks

Goal : Improve and harmonise policies and legal and institutional frameworks for the management of biodiversity, towards a mutual knowledge of national invasive quarantine legislation, a control of alien species legislation and a regional strategy for their management.

  1. Participation in workshops with technical and legal experts
  2. Technical and legal analysis of case studies

2 : Education, awareness-raising, news

Goal : Contribute to public awareness about the preservation of biodiversity in the Indian Ocean zone.

  1. News: Bio&Agri web portal (this site)
  2. Awareness-raising: exhibition “Microportraits of our crops’ hidden inhabitants”
  3. Education: coordination of educational activities on ecology and biodiversity:
    - The workshop "In my garden, there is..." in Reunion Island and Comoros
    - The " Nature as Model " event in Comoros

3 : Networking and data exchange

Goal : Contribute to the development and implementation of exchange networks of digital and statistical data related to the biodiversity of the Indian Ocean area.

  1. Extend the scope of application of the PRPV database of harmful organisms to alien invasive species
  2. Associate the database to the mobile application Pl@ntNet
  3. Experiment with using di@gnoplant with partners in the field
  4. Interconnect databases

4 : Good practice (thematic centres for biodiversity)

Goal : Develop thematic centres for biodiversity including collections and biological resource centres (BRCs) and share scientific knowledge on the management of alien invasive species.

  1. Produce content for the Bio&Agri web portal
  2. Thematic school on research in the service of the fight against invasions

5 : Biodiversity in economic development and sustainable livelihoods

Goal : Involve economic actors, including non-governmental organisations, professional organisations and the private sector, to increase knowledge on biodiversity and promote methods of alien invasive species management.

  1. Strengthening of regional expertise in the detection of plant emerging diseases
    - Potato: Rasltonia solanacearum
    - Citrus: monitoring and control of Xanthomonas citri pv. citri
  2. Strengthening regional expertise in surveillance and control against pests
    - Control of Bactrocera invadens/dorsalis in the countries of the IOC
    - Biological control of white-flies and mealybugs
    - Genetic analysis of the honeybee in the Indian Ocean
    - Monitoring and control of Varroa destructor, threat to indigenous bee Apis mellifera unicolor
  3. Analysis of priority targets invasive plants from field data (distribution, ecology and biology of the species)