CROPROTECT Information Database

Resource explained

Croprotect is an interactive web-based knowledge exchange system designed to provide farmers and agronomists with guidance on pest, weed and disease management. It is a particularly relevant resource for alternative approaches to using pesticides. Scientists at Rothamsted Research have developed it in recognition that better information is required on pest, weed and disease management. It is also recognised that crop protection is becoming more difficult and conventional pesticides are becoming more restricted by legislation or crops developing resistance to them.

The grower interface allows you to input farm information such as crop types and crop protection needs. This generates tailor-made information, grouping together the pest-weed-disease complex for each crop selected and helps you identify relevant solutions. It also tells you about the biology and impact of the target and provides management recommendations. The information generated is driven by data obtained from a range of industry and academic sources.

Findings & recommendations

• ​Scientists recognise that much readily available Integrated Pest Management (IPM) information relates mainly to pesticides and there is a lack of awareness of alternatives. These alternative approaches can often be more complicated to carry out.
• Croprotect has been constructed so that it co-ordinates and connects grower data with information to help design and provide pest management solutions. Growers will be able to access increasing information about each of the major UK pest/weed/disease threats to crops. It allows information to be rapidly transferred to farmers and involves a growing community of users.
• Croprotect allows the research and grower communities to connect and interact. It is a two-way process as it allows researchers to obtain detailed information on challenges growers are facing as conventional pesticide options become diminished (examples are cited of black-grass in winter wheat and flea beetle in oilseed rape). This information then feeds in to helping to process and design an IPM systems module. An information delivery module then provides relevant potential solutions to help support decisions made by individual users.
• The system is evolving and the Croprotect app is now available on iPhone and Android devices.

Associated Agricology Partner Organisation(s):