Dear Participant,
Welcome to the IPMorama Stakeholder Survey.
IPMorama - Integrating breeding for IPM into the deployment landscape for wheat, potatoes and grain legumes - is a Horizon Europe-funded project that began in September 2024 (Grant Agreement No. 101135348). The project brings together 17 partners across Europe.
IPMorama aims to support the development and use of crop varieties with improved resistance to important pests and diseases. It also seeks to develop Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies that make effective use of resistant varieties, helping to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides while maintaining productive and resilient farming systems.
This survey seeks the views of farmers, advisers, plant breeders, researchers, agricultural and food-industry representatives, variety-testing and registration bodies, policymakers, civil-society organisations and consumers. Your responses will help us understand the needs, priorities and challenges of different groups and will inform the development of practical information, guidance and other resources.
No specialist knowledge of plant breeding or Integrated Pest Management is required. The survey should take approximately [12-15] minutes to complete.
Crops and challenges addressed
IPMorama focuses on wheat, potato and three grain legumes: soybean, pea and white lupin. The project addresses several important pests and diseases affecting these crops:
- late and early blight in potato;
- rust diseases in wheat;
- fungi of the Diaporthe/Phomopsis complex in soybean;
- anthracnose in white lupin; and
- Orobanche crenata (broomrape), a parasitic weed affecting pea.
Glossary
Variety: A crop variety is a cultivated plant type that has been bred or selected to have a particular combination of desirable characteristics, such as high yield, resistance to pests or diseases, or suitability for certain climates.
Disease-resistant variety: A crop variety with inherited characteristics that help it withstand or limit the effects of one or more plant diseases. Resistant varieties can reduce crop losses and may reduce the need for pesticide applications.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM): A sustainable approach to managing pests, diseases and weeds. It combines methods such as resistant crop varieties, crop-management practices, monitoring, biological control and, where necessary, targeted pesticide use.
Variety-centric IPM: An approach in which the characteristics of the crop variety - particularly its resistance to pests or diseases - form a central part of the crop-protection strategy. Resistant varieties are combined with monitoring, crop-management practices and other IPM measures.
Landscape level vulnerability map: In IPMorama, a vulnerability map is a spatial decision-support tool that identifies where crop varieties are most susceptible to disease by combining information on host resistance with the distribution and virulence of pathogen populations across the landscape. Rather than showing where disease is currently present, it predicts where varieties are vulnerable based on the interaction between crop genetics and pathogen biology.
The IPMorama approach
1. Resistance discovery and deployment: Identifying effective resistance genes and developing tools and strategies that enable breeders to combine them in crop varieties with durable and sustainable resistance.
2. Disease surveillance and data access: Monitoring the distribution and diversity of target pests and pathogens across Europe, identifying populations capable of overcoming varietal resistance, and developing accessible tools for sharing and interpreting this information.
3. Variety-centric Integrated Pest Management: Developing and testing farming practices that use the natural resistance of crop varieties as a central component of IPM.
By improving our understanding of plant resistance and monitoring how pest and pathogen populations spread and change over time, we can develop and deploy varieties with stronger and longer-lasting resistance. Combined with appropriate farming practices, these varieties can contribute to more sustainable, productive and resilient agricultural systems.
The experiences and priorities shared through this survey will help IPMorama develop practical resources tailored to the needs of different stakeholder groups and support the wider adoption of sustainable, variety-based strategies.
Purpose of the survey
The online survey aims to identify and analyze the social, economic, and technical barriers and drivers affecting the adoption of variety-centric IPM strategies across the European agri-food supply chain. You have been invited because of role within this chain. The findings will be used to develop a knowledge sharing framework and sector specific outreach materials, such as vlogs and infographics, specifically designed to support the transition to sustainable farming through variety-centric IPM.
What data will be collected:
* Professional category and stakeholder group
* Broad geographical location
* Opinions, attitudes, and experiences
Gender
We are collecting this information to monitor the gender diversity of participants and help ensure that our research includes appropriate representation across different gender groups.
Confidentiality and Data Anonymization
All survey data will be anonymized before analysis and reporting to ensure full participant confidentiality, and no individual responses will be identifiable in any project outputs. If you voluntarily provide your email address to receive the materials informed by the survey findings, this information will be processed securely and kept strictly separate from your survey answers.
Data retention
Data will be stored securely for the duration of the IPMorama project (until August 2028) and for a maximum of 5 years following project completion for audit purposes, as per EU funding regulations.
Rights of the participant
Participation in this survey is entirely voluntary and is based on your explicit consent. You have the right to access, rectify, or request the erasure of your data. Consent can be withdrawn at any time without any negative consequences.
Security measures
Data will be collected via a secure LimeSurvey platform. All responses will be stored on password-protected servers with access strictly limited to authorized project personnel.
Identity of the data controller
The Data Controller is TEAGASC (Agriculture and Food Development Authority), Ireland, acting as the Project Coordinator.
Contact for questions
For questions regarding the survey or data protection, please contact Sara Dunny Fox sara.dunnyfox@teagasc.ie or the Teagasc Project Management Office.
