Pilot project – Developing a Farmers’ Toolbox for Integrated Pest Management Practices from Across the Union
IPM (Integrated Pest Management) combines the use of cropping, biological, and chemical practices to control pests in agricultural production. It seeks to use natural mechanisms, predators, or parasites to control pests, using selective pesticides as a last resort option, when pests cannot be controlled by natural or non-chemical means. IPM should not be confused with organic farming. It does not exclude spraying of synthetic pesticides; it promotes spraying with selective pesticides based on monitoring and threshold values, but only when needed, which aims altogether at using reduced pesticide volumes.
The main objective of the pilot project is to provide background knowledge on the most promising ways that could help farmers, advisors, and policymakers to scale up the reduction of the dependency on pesticide use across the EU.
The specific objectives of the pilot project are:
- To provide a comprehensive description of the currently available implementing approaches (e.g., policies, agricultural practices, technologies, private sector initiatives such as certification) to reduce dependency on pesticides use;
- To assess the potential of the approaches identified in objective 1 for reducing the dependency on pesticide use, and to prove their effectiveness as well as barriers (real or perceived) that limit their uptake. In particular, the study should list and assess the barriers and explain their roots and possible ways to overcome them;
- To propose specific strategies on how to scale up good practices throughout the EU;
- To set up an EU-wide database containing the relevant information and guidance to enable farmers and advisory services to reduce the dependency on pesticide use and to disseminate it as widely as possible through the EU.
The technical specifications highlight that the conclusions of the study should provide useful information for future actions at EU and Member States’ level, including the implementation of the CAP post-2020.
Partners:
Arcadia International , ECORYS