Identifying obstacles and ranking common biological control research priorities for Europe to manage most economically important pests in arable, vegetable and perennial crops

Jay Ram Lamichhane*, Monika Bischoff-Schaefer, Sylvia Bluemel, Silke Dachbrodt-Saaydeh, Laure Dreux, Jean Pierre Jansen, Jozsef Kiss, Jurgen Kohl, Per Kudsk, Thibaut Malausa, Antoine Messéan, Philippe C. Nicot, Pierre Ricci, Jérôme Thibierge, François Villeneuve

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

53 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

EU agriculture is currently in transition from conventional crop protection to integrated pest management (IPM). Because biocontrol is a key component of IPM, many European countries recently have intensified their national efforts on biocontrol research and innovation (R&I), although such initiatives are often fragmented. The operational outputs of national efforts would benefit from closer collaboration among stakeholders via transnationally coordinated approaches, as most economically important pests are similar across Europe. This paper proposes a common European framework on biocontrol R&I. It identifies generic R&I bottlenecks and needs as well as priorities for three crop types (arable, vegetable and perennial crops). The existing gap between the market offers of biocontrol solutions and the demand of growers, the lengthy and expensive registration process for biocontrol solutions and their varying effectiveness due to variable climatic conditions and site-specific factors across Europe are key obstacles hindering the development and adoption of biocontrol solutions in Europe. Considering arable, vegetable and perennial crops, a dozen common target pests are identified for each type of crop and ranked by order of importance at European level. Such a ranked list indicates numerous topics on which future joint transnational efforts would be justified.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)14-21
JournalPest Management Science
Volume73
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • beneficials
  • biomolecules
  • biopesticides
  • European research networking
  • innovation
  • integrated pest management
  • semiochemicals
  • sustainable agriculture

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Identifying obstacles and ranking common biological control research priorities for Europe to manage most economically important pests in arable, vegetable and perennial crops'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • EU BIOCOMES (BO-25.10-001-002)

    Kohl, J. (Project Leader)

    1/01/1531/12/17

    Project: LVVN project

  • BIOCOMES (BO-25.10-002-001)

    Kohl, J. (Project Leader)

    1/12/1331/12/14

    Project: LVVN project

Cite this