Biopesticides and
sustainability
Wyn Grant
Practical research
The challenge
• Synthetic plant protection products
becoming less available at a time of
concern about food security
• Carrot fly example
• Biocontrol products offer a sustainable
alternative
• But have faced regulatory and market
challenges
Biocontrol products
• There are some problems of definition
• Generally talking about naturally
occurring entities that have little or no
toxicity, invisible to naked eye, can be
applied with existing equipment
• Entomopathogenic fungi – example of
beauveria fungus worked on in RELU
project
Downsides
• Less efficacious – slower kill rate, highly
selective niche products mostly, short
persistence, susceptible to unfavourable
environmental conditions
• Need more technical knowledge from farmer
• Most headway in greenhouses where
synthetics often could not be used and more
tech know how, but note Serenade
Regulatory environment
• Regulators used to dealing with
chemicals
• Often suspicious of biocontrol (even
now)
• Two tier system at EU level, substances
and products
• Variable standards of member state
agencies
New legislation
• Still being brought into force and
implemented
• Three eco zones plus one for
greenhouses
• Commitment in EU to IPM
• EFSA involved in peer review of active
substances
Lack of political support
• Not used by that many farmers (NL
different)
• Organic sector suspicious
• Big agrochemical companies see them
as threat (but now buying in)
• Companies are very small, often
science park start ups
• Retailers ambivalent – a few in favour
How has progress been made?
• Policy network weakly developed ad
immature
• Interventions by government and
response by regulatory agencies
• Role of consultants
• Improvements in capacities and
sophistication of IBMA
Member state governments
• Cabinet Office intervened in UK, Defra
relatively inactive, brought in change agent
from Unilever
• Response from Approvals Director at what
was then PSD, Biopesticides Scheme
• Genoeg Scheme in NL
• UK response very dependent on agency of
individuals, hence fragile
Current situation
• PSD becomes CRD or Bootle East
• Fiscal consolidation leaves to departure
of key staff, possible morale effects
• Role of Availability and Alternatives
stakeholder group
• Concern about Biopesticides Scheme
being hollowed out
Consultants
• Intermediaries between firms and
regulators, but viewed with some
ambivalence by regulators
• Prominent in IBMA
• Generally one person businesses unlike
agronomists who deal with synthetics
Industry representation
• US has given more backing to
biopesticides through dedicated division
in EPA
• IR-4 program helped to form trade
association
• UK constrained by ‘green book’ rules
High tech associations
• Uncertainty reduction model suggests
early emphasis on service provision
• A little more complex
• Concerns about political displacement
of agrochemical companies who are
worried by political rather than
commercial threat of biocontrol
IBMA
• Formed 1995
• Europe wide organisation with national
branches and working groups, some
American and Australian members
• Originally France-centric
• 3 working groups (key) chaired from CH
• Bayer and BASF members, moving in to
sector
IBMA
• Annual conference/exhibition in
Lucerne, now 3 days
• Income around €220-240,000
• Originally relied on contract work in
Brussels
• Now has full-time CEO from industry
background
Grey market issue
• Unfair competition, do not have to go
through registration system as do not
make direct pest control claim, damage
reputation
• Grey market claim innovation
• Variability in application of legislation by
member state, registered as pesticides
in A but not in B (Serenade)
New EU legislation
• Replaces directive by regulation, hopefully
less scope for variability
• Devil is in detail
• Legislation does give specific status to nonchemical and natural alternatives, but will
require a guidance document
• DG Sanco broadly sympathetic, but
concerned may be too many low risk
substances
• Role of private standards organisations
Conclusions
• Low political profile, political
displacement fragile
• Relationship with regulators not
structurally embedded
• Halfway house between conventional
and organics
• Growing fast, but still very small
compared to agrochemicals
Conclusions (2)
• Absence of strong consumptionist
dimension in era of consumer-citizen
• Retailers prohibit certain pesticides but
do not promote biocontrol
• Productionist discourse weakened by
limited economic impact of industry
• Key test for IBMA is influencing
implementation of new EU regime
Read our book
Visit our website
• http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/
biopesticides/
• Thanks to the RELU programme