Over the past year, much has happened in research on biological control at SLU. Among other things, there are new findings on plant protection using nanotechnology, weed control, plant protection for food production in urban environments, and how ecosystem services can be maintained in agriculture. Read more in SLU Centre for Biological Control's popular science report for 2024.
The lion’s share of the funding for the SLU Centre for Biological Control (CBC) goes towards five half-time (50%) research posts which enable us to conduct research on biological control. This investment is profitable for SLU as the assigned researchers attract significant external funding from multiple sources, enabling CBC to run an average of 30 scientific projects per year. These projects, in turn, tend to result in around 30 peer-reviewed publications as well as numerous expert reports, popular publications, and patents, says Johan.
– CBC’s scientific output does not end up gathering dust in a library but is continuously communicated to relevant players in society including authorities, industry, farmers, policy makers, journalists, and the general public, says Johan Steberg who was CBC’s Direcot during 2024.
From weed control to nanotechnology
In CBC’s popular science annual report, you can read about research that makes groundbreaking contributions to a greener industry, weed control, plant protection using nanotechnology, mushroom compost for sustainable cultivation, the role of hoverflies in biological control, how wheat can regulate biological control fungi with small RNA molecules, interdisciplinary approaches to urban food production, and much more.
New adventures 2025
New adventures await CBC in 2025. Two of the senior researchers, namely Paul Becher and Johan Stenberg, will leave CBC to make room for two junior researchers.
– The junior researchers will step in with new and vital energy. I am very grateful for all the years that I have enjoyed as director of CBC and hereby wish Maria Viketoft, who will henceforth take over this pleasant duty, all the best, says Johan.
