How can Europe accelerate the transition towards more sustainable plant protection while ensuring farmers have access to effective solutions?
To explore this question, the SCALE-it project launched the “Voices of SCALE-it: Advancing Biocontrol for Plant Health” video campaign, bringing together researchers, advisors and farmers from across Europe. Through eight short videos, the campaign showcases how collaborative research is driving the development of innovative, nature-based alternatives to contentious inputs and, most importantly, how projects like SCALE-it help bridge the gap between scientific innovation and practical application on farms.
The series opens with Annegrett Schmitt (JKI Institute), who introduces the project’s mission to accelerate the development and uptake of innovative solutions for plant health. From there, viewers are taken on a journey across Europe, discovering how partners are addressing crop-specific challenges through science and collaboration.
In vineyards, Giovanni Bigot (Perleuve) and Ilaria Pertot (University of Trento) explain why reducing copper use remains one of the greatest challenges for organic viticulture and how integrated strategies and biocontrol solutions can help protect crops while safeguarding soil health. In Switzerland, Hans-Jakob Schärer (FiBL) highlights the need for additional tools to manage diseases in apple production, while Manolis Kabourakis (Hellenic Mediterranean University) demonstrates how biodiversity, canopy and ground management, and plant extracts can reduce reliance on copper in olive groves.
The campaign also explores how understanding pest behaviour is opening entirely new avenues for sustainable crop protection. Vincenzo Verrastro (CIHEAM Bari) presents innovative approaches for citrus production, while Marco Tasin and Valerio Mazzoni (Fondazione Edmund Mach) showcase how vibrational signals can disrupt the behaviour of key tomato pests as part of integrated pest management strategies.
The final episode features Stoilko Apostolov (Bioselena Foundation), who reminds us that innovation alone is not enough. Sustainable solutions can only make a difference if they are accessible to farmers.
The campaign comes at a particularly important moment for European agriculture. In February 2025, the European Commission presented measures under the Food and Feed Safety Omnibus to improve the registration and availability of biocontrol products, recognising that they should no longer be assessed under the same procedures as synthetic pesticides. With the legislative process now underway, the European Parliament and the Council have the opportunity to establish more proportionate approval pathways that support both innovation and high standards of safety and environmental protection.
Together, the eight voices featured in this campaign deliver a clear message: innovation, collaboration and supportive policies must go hand in hand to ensure that effective, nature-based solutions reach farmers and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable European agriculture.
You can watch the complete “Voices of SCALE-it: Advancing Biocontrol for Plant Health” playlist on the SCALE-it YouTube channel and discover how our partners are helping shape the future of sustainable plant protection across Europe.
About SCALE-it project
SCALE-it runs for 48 months and is funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme (2021-2027), with co-funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The project is coordinated by FiBL Europe, with scientific leadership from FiBL Switzerland.
