IIRB Seminar 2023 'The use of weather data in crop management'

05/12/2023, Faculty Club Leuven

Weather and climatic conditions have always been decisive factors in the cultivation of field crops. New modeling approaches and technologies now enable us to forecast weather conditions and to predict their influence on crop development, pest populations and yield much more precisely. Long-term models also allow us to assess the impact of climate change for crop cultivation in the coming decades. The speakers at our seminar will highlight the possibilities and limitations of weather forecasts and their reliability and will give examples of models already used in other crops. New approaches in Integrated Pest Management will be presented for several sugar beet pathogens and pests, and the importance of weather predictions in weed control will be highlighted. 

Various speakers from sugar beet research institutes and universities will contribute to the programme. We expect an international audience of 120 seminar participants from research, breeding, growers' associations and the sugar industry.