Biographie | Henri Maraite
Prof. Henri Maraite
Henri Maraite retired in 2006 from UCLouvain as full professor in Crop protection. For 30 years he was associated with the teaching a wide range of graduate and undergraduate courses, from Principles of Phytiatry to Epidemiology and forecasting systems in plant pathology. He promoted the introduction of a ‘Plant Clinic’ course in the curriculum of MS students in Crop protection. Besides he was Invited professor at Fondation Universitaire Luxembourgeoise ( 1981-2003, Crop protection and Agrometeorology), Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, University of Kinshasa and University of Kisangani.
From 1985 to 2006 he was head of the Phytopathology Unit at UCLouvain, initiating and animating research projects on the genetic diversity of plant pathogenic fungi and bacteria, on fungicide resistance, on host-parasite relationships, on the epidemiology and control of diseases affecting crops in temperate and tropical areas. An important part of the research was devoted to field work in order to understand the key environmental factors leading to disease development and thus to design advices relevant to the farmer for a sustainable crop protection, e.g. the interactive web-based decision support system ‘Proculture’ for field specific septoria leaf blight control in winter wheat. Most of the research projects involved extensive interdisciplinary collaborations with Belgian or foreign research teams, e.g. for the OPTIDIS consortium of 8 European partners for the Development of an Optical detection system for Diseases in field crops with a view to reduce pesticides by targeted application of pesticides. From 1999 to 2006 he also was in charge of MUCL, the fourth world collection of fungi and yeasts of agricultural, agri-industrial and environmental importance, member of the Belgian Coordinated Collection of Microorganisms.
For both his teaching and his research he felt important to keep a close link with the practice in order to bridge the gap between research and its practical application. With this in mind he managed to set up a ‘Plant Clinic Service’ for diagnosis of plant health problems and formulation of control advices adapted to the particular conditions, as well as the ‘Comité Régional Phyto’, a think tank of concertation for a responsible use of pesticides.
After his retirement he carried on consultancies, review of manuscripts and grant proposals for various agencies and has been member of the board of trustees at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
