Research activities

Last modified: 17. October 2022

The Institute's research portfolio includes complex plant protection research covering the whole field of the discipline (entomology, herbology, plant pathology, toxicology). The most important current research topics are:

- Development of integrated pest management for field crops using innovative tools, development of integrated pest management against invasive pests (Diabrotica virgifera).

- Distribution of sunflower peronospora (P. halstedii) pathotypes in Europe, their susceptibility to fungicides.

- Efficacy of azole-containing fungicides against fungal diseases in winter wheat.

- Mycotoxin producing fungi on plant products (cereals, small seeds, nuts).

- Biological control methods, with plant extracts and antagonistic microorganisms, (Beauveria and Metarhizium species).

- Arthropod communities in different crops (in chilli pepper, blackcurrant  plantations).

- Contribution of semi-natural habitats to ecosystem services, weed predation, landscape aesthetics.

- Plant conservation forecasting, estimation of damage risk based on climatic parameters

- Identification of new pathogens with international and national pioneers and international recognition.

- National monitoring of plant pathogens, mapping population variability.

- Development of pesticide reduced pest management technologies.

- Development of classical and molecular diagnostic methods.

- Introduction of high-throughput sequencing.

- Insecticide resistance studies with oilseed rape beetle.

- Trap developments to increase the efficiency of pest management technologies based on pest prediction.

- Domestic monitoring of invasive pests (pests, weeds), their biology and ecology.

- Investigation of pest-virus relationships, identification of new host plants and viruses.

- Seed pathology studies.

- Investigation of biological and ecological characteristics of weeds and development of effective control strategies against them.

- Eye irritation testing of plant protection products using alternative methods.

- Toxicological assessment of the health risk of environmental heavy metals in wild bird tissue samples.

- Investigation of the individual and combined toxicity of pesticides and heavy metals in avian embryos.

- Research on ecological, faunistic, taxonomic, biological and integrated pest management of horticultural crops and their control.