CISPS, a commission dedicated to the development and evaluation of service plants

Meeting in Paris on 20 October, the Commission on Service Plants (CISPS) continued its work to promote the development and evaluation of service plants.

Among the highlights of this meeting, the Commission carried out an initial review of the operations of the Pests Commission, which was established at the end of 2025. The work carried out this year has deepened our understanding of the mechanisms for controlling nematodes and identified ways to improve variety evaluation protocols. The CISPS also examined the 2026 results of variety resistance tests against nematodes and validated the reference controls for future evaluation campaigns.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to review the CISPS’s expansion to include new ecosystem services. Following the introduction in 2026 of a pioneering protocol to assess the contribution of sunflower varieties to providing nectar sources for insect fauna, the Commission reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the development of new services and assessment criteria.

Members also discussed prospects for research and innovation, notably through the CASDAR C-Couvert project (Research into species- and variety-specific variability for soil carbon sequestration through intercropping) and the PARSADA MetaServ (Establishment of generic resources and tools for the selection and deployment of plants providing services against pests), which were the subject of a dedicated webinar in the autumn.

These discussions confirm the central role of the CISPS in supporting plant variety innovation and recognising the services provided by plants for the benefit of more sustainable agricultural systems.