Biological alternatives to chemical pesticides in
the food chain: an inter-disciplinary approach
• Research funded by UK Rural
Economy and Land Use (RELU)
programme (11/2004).
• RELU projects are combination of
social & natural sciences.
• Warwick University Departments:
– W-HRI (Chandler, Prince)
– Biological Sciences (Tatchell)
– Politics and International Studies
(Grant, Greaves).
– Researching biopesticides.
Background: sustainable pest control
• Invertebrate pests constrain crop production.
• Need sustainable pest control.
• Reduce reliance on chemical pesticides :
– resistance problems; resurgence; 2O pests
– adverse environmental effects;
– consumer concerns about residues;
– new chemistry v. expensive to develop;
Sustainability = Integrated Pest Management
No panaceas.
Use chemicals as precious resource.
• Chemical pesticides
• Crop breeding
• Biological control
• Cultural techniques
(undersowing, intercropping)
• Landscape & habitat
• Interference (semiochemicals)
Alternative pest control methods
•
Valuable components of IPM.
– Environmental benefits.
– Lower efficacy than chemicals.
•
•
•
•
•
Niche market.
Originate in public sector.
Produced by Small – Medium
Enterprises.
Poor uptake in UK / EU despite a need for
them. Different in USA. Why?
We are using biopesticides as a model
(e.g. Vertalec, a fungal pathogen of
aphids).
Trend for new a.i. registrations in USA
New a.i. registrations
16
14
12
conventional
biological
reduced risk conventional
10
8
6
4
2
0
1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
Biopesticides
•
Micro-organisms that kill insects & mites.
•
Naturally widespread. High specificity. Little or no toxic residue.
•
Can be used as biopesticides :– inundative biocontrol.
Biopesticides & sustainability
•
Use political science to explore reasons for poor uptake in UK / EU
(project team = biologists + political scientists).
•
Use natural science to improve understanding of environmental
sustainability.
Biopesticides: why poor uptake?
•
•
Efficacy.
Regulatory issues (UK / EU : biopesticides regulated for safety and
efficacy):
– Market failure hypothesis: market size is small c.f. registration
costs.
– Regulatory failure hypothesis: regulatory system designed for
chemical pesticides & is too onerous for biopesticides
Biopesticides: regulatory failure
•
Assess limitations of chemical pesticide regulatory system for
biopesticides.
•
Consider obstacles to regulatory innovation:
– Broader model of the regulatory state in the UK / EU:
– Increased reliance on regulation.
– Inbuilt features of regulatory systems have unintended consequences,
e.g. long term aims get displaced in favour of short term goals.
Biopesticides: regulatory failure
•
Identify processes that may sustain regulatory innovation.
•
Compare different public policies on crop protection & pesticide
reduction:
– UK: private governance model (retailer led).
– Denmark: legislative model.
– USA: comparative risk assessment, role of EPA.
Biopesticides: environmental sustainability
•
Using insect pathogenic fungi as a model system.
•
Very widespread in nature, particularly in soil.
•
Emphasis has been on technology of biopesticide development, not
on ecology.
•
Need to improve understanding of functional ecology & indirect effects
(e.g. impact on indigenous populations).
Biopesticides: environmental sustainability
•
Effect of habitat type on fungal biodiversity (farm & non farm habitats).
•
Fungal life history: how do fungi survive in soils (saprotrophs or
obligate pathogens?).
•
Impact of inundative releases on indigenous fungal populations.
Environment, Food & Farming: a
multidisciplinary approach
• Political science
• Environmental science
• Biosciences
• Social science
• Economics
• Mathematics / statistics
• Horticultural & agricultural science
• Production processes
Environment, Food & Farming:
multidisciplinary research at Warwick
•
Environmental impact assessment (esp. diverse sectors, such
as horticulture) & sustainable farming.
•
Making the links between:
– Human health and wellbeing.
– Environmental health.
– Food and farming.
People
Food
(UK, France, USA, Canada)
Environment
Thanks for your attention