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Towards effective and efficient pest management in agriculture

Project description

Better decision-making for pesticide application

Targeting farmers' behaviour in pesticide application can improve pesticide policies. However, the main drivers behind farmers' wasteful decisions are unknown. The EU-funded PESTEFFECT project will address this knowledge gap by creating a model of farmers' pesticide use decisions, incorporating concepts from agricultural economics, agronomy and ecology. The initiative will also provide the first empirical analysis of economic and environmental effects. The research fellow will apply an econometric model to provide temporally and spatially explicit assessments of risk reduction potentials on a regional level, with the aid of multi-layered maps. The project's results will contribute to greater sustainability in European agriculture by informing pesticide policies that target inefficient pest management decisions as well as creating guidelines for farmers and farm advisors.

Objective

Résumé: The reduction of environmental and health risks from pesticide use is a major challenge for agriculture and on top of the agricultural policy agenda. Despite substantial efforts, current pesticide policies have not reached their reduction targets. Recent research shows that targeting farmers’ application behavior could be key for advancing pesticide policies. However, our theoretical understanding of the farmers’ decision-making process is limited and empirical studies on the main drivers of inefficient decisions are missing. The interdisciplinary PESTEFFECT project will i) advance our understanding of farmers’ pesticide use decisions, ii) quantify impacts of the main drivers of inefficient decisions, and iii) identify risk reduction potentials on a regional level. In the project, we will i) develop a conceptual and empirical model of farmers’ pesticide use decisions that integrates concepts from agricultural economics, agronomy, and ecology, ii) provide the first empirical analysis of economic and environmental effects of inefficient pest management decisions using an econometric model and iii) provide temporally- and spatially explicit assessments of risk reduction potentials on a regional level using multi-layered maps. For our analysis, we will use a unique, long-term dataset on farmers’ management decisions, environmental conditions, and biodiversity (losses) from Western France. Results will support the development of pesticide policies targeting inefficient pest management decisions and the creation of guidelines for farmers and farm advisors. The project will thus contribute to a more sustainable agriculture in Europe.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

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Coordinator

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 184 707,84
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 184 707,84
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