Glyphosate towards 2022 in Europe - postponed

POSTPONED TO DATE TO BE DEFINED DUE TO COVID-19

Prague, Czech Republic, postponed

EWRS Expert Meeting on Glyphosate

Glyphosate towards 2022 in Europe

new date will be communicated asap

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic

Glyphosate is the most frequently used herbicide in the world and is registered in more than 130 countries. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) identified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. The IARC evaluation created societal concern and political space beyond the scientific debate. Following a detailed toxicological and ecological risk assessment based on the most extensive and relevant datasets, the Commission reached the decision in 2017 to renew the glyphosate registration until the end of 2022.

Glyphosate has probably been exposed to more scrutiny and debate in the media and public perception than any other pesticide. However, few “what-if scenarios” exist for a prediction of possible consequences and challenges of a glyphosate ban for the EU agriculture. Therefore, the EWRS within the framework of EWRS's social and scientific responsibilities decided to organize a dedicated workshop to discuss agronomical, social and economic aspects of scenarios hypothesizing a total ban on glyphosate and analyzing if producers and agronomists/weed scientists are ready for this challenge. 

The main topics may include the following themes;

  • Management of weeds resistant to MoAs other than glyphosate
  • Impact of glyphosate on soil management in low or no-tillage systems
  • Perennial weed control strategies without glyphosate
  • Glyphosate for vegetation management on non-crop areas (amenity, urban, railways, invasive weeds)
  • Alternative tools to glyphosate (comparison of efficacy, practicability in large-scale farming systems)
  • Socio-economic impact of glyphosate restrictions

Scientific and Local committee

  • Josef Soukup (Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic)
  • Husrev Mennan   (Ondokuz Mayıs University, Turkey)
  • Ivo Brants   (Bayer Agriculture BVBA , Belgium)
  • Jukka Salonen  (Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland)
  • Lena Ulber     (Julius Kühn-Institut, Germany)
  • Paul Neve     (Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board, UK)
  • Per Kudsk  (Aarhus University, Denmark)
  • Camilla Moonen   (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di, Italy)

Venue

The workshop will take place at the campus of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague - Suchdol (Czech Republic), which is located in the close proximity of the Prague airport. The wheather in Prague in September is mild and pleasant during the autumn season when the temperatures gradually decrease from the high of summer. The average temperatures drop to the comfortable range of 8.9°C to 18.9°C as the autumn spreads colors over the landscape.

Address: Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Praha 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic  https://www.czu.cz/en

Registration and abstract submission

The Scientific Committee will invite experts who have a long term and complex experience with glyphosate on farming system and IWM approaches. Besides experts, EWRS invites you to participate actively in this workshop which will be an extraordinary occasion for the exchange of thoughts and experiences about glyphosate. A limited number of participants (40-50 max.) will be accepted at the workshop since EWRS aims to achieve the following outcomes from this meeting;

  • A short memorandum to politicians and NGOs;
  • A scientific report to the Ministry of agriculture and scientist in EU and candidate countries;
  • A scientific paper which may be published in Weed Research.

We look forward to receiving abstracts online for consideration and inclusion in the scientific programme as oral presentation. The submitted abstracts should give a brief description of the title and topic (max word count 450). The members of the Scientific Committee will review all abstracts. Accepted abstracts will be published as workshop proceedings. The deadline for abstract submission and the workshop website will be announced later.

The Scientific Committee will try to supply balance among participants to cover geographical and stakeholders in Europe.

The registration will cover lunches, coffee breaks, meeting dinner and proceedings. The instructions for payment and fee will be provided in the coming circulars.

Accommodation

Local 3* hotels in 15 min walking distance:

Many hotel options are in Prague downtown (45 min by public traffic)

Limited numbers of rooms for approximately Euro 20 / person are available in student dormitories, 10 minutes walking distance on the campus.