Abstract
Within the framework of ANR Systerra and GIS PICLeg (projects "Sysbiotel" & "Neoleg"), in collaboration between INRA PACA, IRD, APREL, the Chambre of Agriculture 06 and private seed companies, several resistance genes deployment strategies were evaluated for 3 years in field agronomic conditions to develop a rational management of resistant cultivars for the sustainable control of root-knot nematodes. The alternation of resistance genes in the rotation and the «pyramiding» of such genes in a single cultivar proved to be extremely efficient in suppressing the emergence of virulent populations and decreasing the amount of pathogens in the soil by more than 80% in 3 years. A new project (named "Gedunem") launched in the framework of the INRA Metaprogram SMaCH (Sustainable Management of Crop Health) is now in progress, associating these new varieties to other available control methods (i.e., intercultural management, non-host plants, prophylaxis), to maintain a low parasite pressure, while assessing these new cropping systems for agronomic and socio-economic aspects.