Pest and Disease Survey in Wheat
Pest and Disease Survey in Oilseed Rape
Pest and Disease Survey

Survey overview

Project details

The Survey began in the 1970's and is ongoing.  It is currently co-ordinated by ADAS (part of RSK Environment Ltd.).  It was previously co-ordinated by Fera Science Ltd (previously know as Central Science Laboratory).

 

Project team

The project is managed by ADAS.

It is organised into four work packages and details about each work package can be found on the Work Packages page.

The project benefits greatly from input from a Steering Committee and a Diverse Stakeholder Engagement Group.  Details of our partners can be found on the Consortium page.

Background

Endemic pests and diseases can cause major yield losses to key UK food crops such as wheat and oilseed rape.  Pest pressure varies considerably from year to year and the impact on crop yield and quality ranges from slight damage to complete crop loss.  Farmers and advisors benefit from having access to historical and in-season data about pest and disease pressure which can be used to aid or review management decisions.

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has funded annual monitoring of endemic pests and diseases in wheat and oilseed rape for approximately 50 years.  During this time, a powerful and unique data set has been generated which contains information about pest and disease levels at key crop growth stages along with accompanying agronomic and pesticide input information.

Standardised methodology has been developed during the course of the survey to ensure that data are comparable across regions and seasons.  Methodology is periodically reviewed and care is taken to ensure that future observations will add to the strength of the long-term data set whilst maintaining its integrity.
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Previous surveys have been coordiated by Fera (with input from ADAS). Highlights from the work can be found on the CropMonitor website.
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What will the project deliver?

The survey will build on the legacy of the existing data set and deliver pest and disease information essential to establishing consensus across policy, research and industry.  The data will be useful to a range of stakeholders including farmers, crop advisers, industry, researchers and policy makers.

The project has created an interactive online platform which allows the user to visualise pest and disease observations along with agronomic information.  A series of reports published throughout the year will bring in-season analysis and interpretation of the data.  Access to the data is free of charge.

Who will benefit?

 The public

Find out about the different pests and diseases that affect these key crops in the UK.
 

 Farmers and advisers

See how your pest and disease levels compare with the regional and national mean values.  Look at trends across seasons and explore variety choices, sowing date decisions and current popular tillage practices.
 

 Industry

Download regional and national level data which are essential for running forecasting models, view trends in pest and disease levels to inform future breeding priorities and to understand the impact of changes in agronomic practice and to European pesticide legislation.
 

 Researchers

Access a large historical data set of pest and disease observations from across a wide range of sites and seasons, underpinned by robust statistical stratification.  Compare with corresponding agronomic and pesticide input information to support research across many key areas.  
 

 Policy makers

Obtain evidence to inform policy decisions in a post-Brexit era.

Any Questions?

The most commonly asked questions about the project can be found in our FAQ section. 

If you would like to enquire about the survey please fill out the form in the Contact Us page.

 Contact Us
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