'ARCHIDEMIO' PROJECT. Modelling the interactions between plant development, canopy architecture and outbreaks of airborne fungal diseases, for sustainable crop management

As part of the ANR ‘Archidemio’ project (2009 – 2012, SYSTERRA call for proposals), we investigated whether the characteristics of the plant and the plant canopy (architecture, development, levels of resistance) could be major determinants of the epidemic development of aerial fungal diseases, and of their control within integrated plant protection strategies. The project was structured around three main components: 1) The development of a generic model linking plant growth and the epidemic development of fungal above-ground diseases; 2) The acquisition of knowledge on four pathosystems (grapevine/powdery mildew, yam/anthracnose, peas/ascochytosis, potato/late blight) based on their characteristics (sensitivity to the microclimate and the plant) and potential levers that can be activated at the plant level (genetics, crop management), 3) The development of management scenarios at the plant level (architecture / genotype – varietal ideotypes) and/or at the crop level (planting density, pruning, staking).