Nearly a year after its launch, FORSAID has been consistent in pursuing partnerships with fellow research projects that share its core themes and approaches. In that sense, the past few months have seen the launch of synergies with a number of initiatives dedicated to pest management and plant health, including STELLA, Cerberus, NextGenBioPest and PurPest. Moreover, a dedicated section of FORSAID’s website was put in place to lay out these collaborations and their outcomes.

The projects above are now joined by EUFAWREADY following its kick-off meeting in early June. Its primary subject of interest is the polyphagous fall armyworm (FAW), an invasive alien species first detected in Africa almost a decade ago. Populations of this pest are now found in mainland Europe, a development that has been recognised as a threat to the Old Continent’s agricultural sector. Taking this into account, EUFAWREADY aims to enhance the readiness of European agricultural stakeholders (e.g. farmers, advisors, technicians, industry professionals and plant health authorities) for potential FAW outbreaks. The project will realise this vision by providing tools for the early detection and effective management of this species within the EU. A guiding principle throughout this process will be the need to minimise the economic, environmental and social impacts of the outbreaks while limiting the expected increase in synthetic pesticide use across European agroecosystems in response to the FAW’s presence.

In terms of its broader objectives, EUFAWREADY is set to mobilise the generation of insights and solutions that complement FORSAID’s own. Specifically, the two projects both recognise the importance of technological innovation in the context of pest management approaches in the agroforestry sector. Moreover, they both zoom in on early detection as a vital stage in containing outbreaks of harm-posing species. Ultimately, both FORSAID and EUFAWREADY have set themselves the goal of improving European plant health standards, an ambition that increases the scope for joint endeavours.

EUFAWREADY can already be found on LinkedIn, Bluesky and YouTube in the run-up to its website’s official launch later this year. More on FORSAID's inter-project synergies can be accessed on this page.