Towards effective and efficient pest management in agriculture

Informations projet

PESTEFFECT

N° de convention de subvention: 101027340

DOI

10.3030/101027340

Projet clôturé le 22 Janvier 2023

Date de signature de la CE 19 Mars 2021

Date de début 1 Février 2022

Date de fin 2 Février 2024

Financé au titre de

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Coût total

€ 184 707,84

Contribution de l’UE

€ 184 707,84

Coordonné par

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PESTEFFECT (Towards effective and efficient pest management in agriculture)

Période du rapport: 2022-02-01 au 2024-01-31

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

The protection of crops from pests and pathogens is crucial for food security and incomes of farmers.
However, currently agricultural pest management mainly relies on the use of pesticides. Studies have shown that the intensive use of pesticides can have important adverse effects on the environment and human health, and affect (long-term) agricultural productivity, e.g. through the reduction of important ecosystem services provided by soil organsisms or bees. The Europen Union has therefore formulated the goal of reducing pesticide use and risks in the "Sustainable Use Directive" and member states have introduced National Action Plans to reduce risks from pesticide use by 30% over the last decade. The recent From Farm to Fork strategy of the European Commission even goes one step further and foresees a 50% reduction of pesticide use and risks.
However, despite these policy efforts no tangible progress on pesticide risk reduction has been over the last decade.
An important research question adressed in the PESTEFFECT project is therefore how to effectively and efficiently reduce pesticide use and risks, while protecting crop yields and incomes.
Existing literature has found that farmer behavior plays an important role for effective and efficient pesticide policies. Nevertheless, most literature has not considered the important link and the interconnectedness of socio-economic and ecological drivers for effective and efficient pest management.The project therefore aimed to empirically identify economically and ecologically effective pest management strategies to support i) farmers in the transformation of pest management and ii) support policymakers in the design of policy measures supporting this transition. To this end, it used a unique dataset on crop management decisions, socio-economic characteristics of farmers, and ecological characteristics on a field and landscape level in the Western plains of France (Zone Atelier Plaine et Val de Sèvre).

Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent

First, we conducted a detailed analysis of farmers pesticide use decisions in the Zone Atelier Plaine et Val de Sèvre over the last decade. We find that pesticide use practices of farmers have remained remarkably stable in the main field crops over the last decade, despite the ambitious pesticide policies in France. Interestingly, when analyse how these changes translate to the regional level, we find that pesticide use and risks have decreased over the last decade. Importantly, decreases were not driven by a change in pesticide management practices (number of applications), but by i) the substitution of toxic insecticides and fungicides that were banned in France and ii) changes in farmers land use decisions, planting crops that are less intensive in pesticide use.

Second, we conceptually analysed potential drivers of "optimal" pesticide use and how they differ across different scales (field, farm, landscape, national level) and from viewpoints of actors (farmers, consumers, and policymakers).
We show how underlying assumptions on the effects of pesticides and their connection with agroecosystems drive those differences. Moreover, we show how extending perspectives can lead to new solutions to reduce pesticide use, by considering non-linearity in effects, uncertainty in decisions, and multiple outputs of agricultural production.

Third, based on the developed conceptual model we empirically analysed farmers pesticide use decisions in oilseed rape (which is the most intensive crop for insecticide use in France) and their interactions with predator-prey interactions in the agro-ecosystem (natural pest control). To this end, we use detailed data on farmers pesticide use decisions, as well as levels of natural pest control and landscape characteristics. More specifically, we empirically analyzed the hypothesis that intensive use of insecticides can lead to a "lock-in" effect of pesticides, through the reduction of the effectiveness of pesticide substitutes, consisting of natural pest control in this case. in line with our hypothesis, we find that pesticide use reduces pest but also predator populations. Our main finding, confirming our hypothesis, is that the positive effect on pests dominates for low levels of pesticide use (pesticides increase yields), but is outbalanced by the negative effects on predators for high levels of pesticide use (pesticides decrease yields).

Since the project has been terminated earlier than planned, the articles are not yet published and has thus not been widely exploited and disseminated yet. However, I have already presented results to the resilience group at CEBC-CNRS and they will be further exploited for research on farmers pesticide use decisions and the ecological impacts of pesticide use by me and the Resilience group at CEBC-CNRS. Results have further already been disseminated in invited presentations to Master students in agronomy and pest management sciences at the Universities of Angers and Nice.

Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent)

First, we provide the first detailed analysis of farmers pesticide use decisions in France over the last decade, accounting for information on a product level and the risks of used pesticides in all main field crops in France. This is of high relevance, since France is the largest agricultural producer and has established the largest National Action Plans for pesticide use reduction in the EU (Ecophyto plans) and invested several billion of Euros in these programs. Further France has been very active in banning pesticides over the last decade, potentially affecting farmers pesticide use decisions and providing a valuable opportunity for evaluation of policy measures. Our results show that despite the substantial investments in pesticide policies, farmers practices have stayed remarkably stable. Our results show that a more holistic view on farmer decision-making is required to decrease pesticide use and risks, focusing on areas with the highest risk of use and accounting for drivers of land use decisions.

Second, our concpetual model provides ways to advance discussion on pesticide use levels that are often locked in current societal debates. In our model we go beyond current models of pesticide use decisions in single disciplines and develop a conceptual, interdisciplinary model from a field- to a socio-ecosystem scale using insights from (Agricultural) Economics, Ecology and Agronomy. Further, our insights on the importance of different perspectives and scales of the problem provides a basis for future research on farmers pesticide use, showing novel pathways to find solutions for economically and ecologicall effective pest management. We further provide codes to replicate results and graphs of optimal pesticide discussed in the paper. These can be used to demonstrate and disseminate findings on the importance of perspectives of actors on different scales, for other research projects, education and the general public.

Third, we provide the first empirical analysis of potential "lock-in" effects of insecticide use in oilseed rape. Our results might be counterintuitive for some experts in pest management or extension services, as well as farmers and can show new pathways and ways forward for sustainable pest control.

An interdisciplinary perspective on pest management across scales