In 'Integrated Pest Management Policy, Research and Implementation: European Initiatives', a chapter in 'Integrated Pest Management - Experiences with Implementation, Global Overview', published earlier this year, ENDURE authors describe the new directions IPM is taking and the various resources available.
They note the new legislative framework, which is taking a more restrictive stance on authorising pesticides (taking a number of molecules out of the market) and specifically promoting IPM. Coupled with other factors such as concerns about resistance to pesticides and societal demands for more sustainable approaches to agriculture, the 'business as usual' approach is no longer a viable option.
This new policy landscape is more conducive to reducing reliance on pesticides and, though some countries have more experience and resources than others, there are opportunities to share and build a higher level of coordination among and between researchers, policy advisers and other stakeholders.
In the chapter, the authors note that while some European countries have experience of introducing pesticide action plans or IPM guidelines on a national scale, many others do not and are seeking to create synergies and share experiences and know-how beyond their national borders.
Countries seeking such know-how can benefit from a diversity of different approaches, with some national programmes seeking to achieve an overall reduction, some focusing on risk reduction, others on directly reducing impacts on the environment or on human health, and others focused on learning alternative practices. Different strategies are being employed, too, to achieve these goals, including subsidising advice on IPM, running demonstration farms, compensation payments in exchange for environmental services, or taxing pesticides according to the risks they pose.
The authors identify the dynamic interactions between representatives of the European Commission and Parliament, governments, research, extension, farmers, industry and civil society, pointing to the creation of the C-IPM ERA-NET as a means of coordinating national calls for research and extension proposals on IPM.
In response to these challenges, research is taking new directions, with experimental work looking at larger spatial and temporal scales which take into account multi-year and landscape effects. There are new research methods, too, where a number of factors are studied in parallel over a number of crops within a rotation and European multi-actor projects where researchers work hand-in-hand with farmers and advisers. There are lessons which can be learned from breakthroughs achieved using agroecological methods in Europe's outermost tropical regions too, such as the Sustainable Banana Plan in Martinique and Guadeloupe which quickly obtained 50% reductions in pesticide use.
Finally the authors identify resources for researchers and farm advisers from organisations such as ENDURE and the International Organisation for Biological Control. They note, for example, the role ENDURE has played since 2007, pooling expertise among its 15 research, education, and extension member institutions across 10 different countries and offering ongoing support to workshops, newsletters and an information centre with 1,600 entries for advisers.
They conclude: “After earlier successes on insect pest management in North America or with resource-poor farmers in developing countries, Europe is set to become a source of renewed inspiration for IPM applied to conventional agriculture in industrialised countries and broadened to encompass all pest categories.”
Taken from: Barzman M.S., Bertschinger L., Dachbrodt-Saaydeh S., Graf, B., Jensen J.E. , Joergensen L.N., Kudsk P., Messéan A., Moonen A.C., Ratnadass A., Sarah J.L. and Sattin M. 2014. Chap. 17 - Integrated Pest Management Policy, Research and Implementation: European Initiatives; in Integrated Pest Management - Experiences with Implementation, Global Overview, Vol.4. R. Peshin & D. Pimentel, Eds. Springer.pp 415-428. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7802-3_17
For more information:
Topics
Species
