Report from the EWRS Glyphosate meeting in Prague
The long-anticipated meeting “Glyphosate authorization and legislation across Europe and the Mediterranean region – challenges and opportunities for agricultural systems” was finally and successfully held on 17-18 November 2022 at the Life Science University, Prague, Czech Republic. Glyphosate has probably been exposed to more scrutiny and debate in the media and public perception than any other pesticide. However, few “what-if” scenarios exist to predict possible consequences and challenges for EU agriculture in the case of the glyphosate ban or restrictions. Therefore, considering its social and scientific responsibilities, the EWRS decided to organize this workshop to discuss and analyze the potential for producers and agronomists/weed scientists to approach this challenge. Within four sessions, namely “Non-chemical and sustainable weed management practices”, “Management of weeds resistant to MoAs other than glyphosate”, “Management of perennial weed species” and “Economical aspects of a possible glyphosate ban”, 16 speeches were presented by the participants on the first day of the meeting. On the second day, a round table, convened by Per Kudsk & Paul Neve was organized, in order to discuss the critical use of glyphosate revealing the questions raised in the presentations of the first day and the regional problems in Europe. At the end of the meeting it was agreed that, as an output, a review would be prepared and submitted to Weed Research journal with the contributions of all participants.
Many thanks to Prof. Josef Soukup, EWRS President, and his team for being such wonderful hosts.
Husrev Mennan, EWRS Scientific Secretary
Maurizio Vurro, EWRS Vice-President
