The Role of Regulation in Developing Biological Alternatives to Pesticides

Project Status: Completed
Type of Project: Research Project
Principal Investigator: Prof Wyn Grant, University of Warwick (Email) ICAST
Website

End of project summary

Policy and Practice Notes

Objectives

UK farmers and growers are challenged with adopting environmentally acceptable methods of pest control while maintaining quality, productivity and profitability. This project will provide new understanding of the environmental and regulatory sustainability of deploying inundatively applied biological control agents (aka biopesticides) as alternatives to chemical pesticides. This will be addressed using entomopathogenic fungi to control aphids in leafy salad crops, a system of which the consortium has considerable expertise.

The project comprises four linked objectives:

(1) To assess the obstacles to regulatory innovation for environmentally-friendly pest control within a model of the regulatory state;

(2) To improve understanding of the environmental behaviour of biopesticides in relation to entomopathogen local adaptation;

(3) To assess the benefit / cost contributions of biopesticides to sustainability, given constraints imposed by existing decision-making networks;

(4) To compare the private governance model of pesticide reduction in the UK with its legislatively driven counterpart in Denmark.

By improving understanding of key natural and social science factors affecting the deployment of alternatives to chemical pesticides, and by entering into dialogue with principal actors in the pesticide regulation system, this project will progress sustainability goals for the UK rural economy across the whole of the food chain.

PUBLICATIONS

Working Papers/Briefing Papers

Grant et al. (2005) Pesticides Safety Directorate: a Draft National Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/biopesticides/papers/ psdnatstrat.doc

Chandler, D., Grant, W., Greaves, J., Prince, P. and Tatchell, M. (2007) “Design principles for a better regulatory system for biopesticides” Warwick HRI. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/biopesticides/publications

Grant, W. (2007) “Benefits and costs of biopesticides in terms of their contribution to sustainability” University of Warwick. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/biopesticides/publications             http://homepages.see.leeds.ac.uk/~lecmsr/sustainableuplands/carbon%20research%20note12.pdf http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/mftf/downloads/publications/MFF_researchnote6_burning.pdf

Conference Papers and Presentations

Grant, W. (2004) Potential for and limitations to technology switching - regulation. Paper presented to Workshop on Promoting Adoption of Alternative Pest Management Strategies in Field Crop Systems, Imperial College, Wye.

Chandler, D. (2005) "Biological alternatives to chemical pesticides in the food chain: an interdisciplinary approach" Paper given to Tetrapartite Group visit to Warwick HRI, 7 June 2005.

Grant, W. (2005) "Biological alternatives to chemical pesticide inputs in the food chain: environmental and regulatory sustainability" Presentation to RELU conference Rural Economy and Land Use: The Challenge for Research 19-21 Jan 2005, Birmingham.
http://www.relu.ac.uk/events/Jan05/Presentations/p4 Grant.PDF

Grant, W. and Chandler, D. (2005) "Biopesticides: an assessment of environmental and regulatory sustainability" Presentation to International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association, Whittlesford, 15 September 2005.

Grant, W. (2005) "Governance - ownership, policy, regulation" Presentation to RELU conference Rural Economy and Land Use: The Challenge for Research 19-21 Jan 2005, Birmingham.
http://www.relu.ac.uk/events/Jan05/Presentations/p5 Grant Gov.PDF

Grant, W. (2005) "The challenge of interdisciplinary environmental research: the case of biopesticides" Presentation to Northeastern Political Science Association Conference, Philadelphia, Pa., 17 November 2005.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/biopesticides/papers/reluphil.doc

Chandler, D., Grant W., Greaves, J., Prince. G. and Tatchell. M.(2006) "Biopesticides: The Way Ahead" Paper given to Royal Agricultural Society of England, 18 October 2006

Grant, W. (2006) “Getting your voice heard in government” Presentation to Rural Economy and Land Use: Enabling Knowledge Exchange, University of Manchester, 18-20 January.

Grant, W. (2006) “Working with biological scientists: the EU dimension” Presentation to UACES Workshop on Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Bristol, November.

Grant, W. and Chandler, D. (2006) “Working together across disciplines: challenges for the natural and social sciences” Presentation to British Academy Workshop on Interdisciplinarity, May.

Grant, W. and Greaves, J. (2006) “How pesticides can help the rural economy” Presentation to RELU/AWM Workshop on Sustainable Food Chains and Rural and Regional Development, Birmingham, 11 May

Greaves, J. (2006) “Biopesticides, regulatory innovation and the regulatory state”, Presentation to ECPR/CRI Conference, ‘Frontiers of Regulation: Assessing Scholarly Debates and Policy Challenges’, University of Bath, September.

Tatchell, M. (2006) “Cycles and chains” Presentation to Rural Economy and Land Use: Enabling Knowledge Exchange Conference, University of Manchester, 18-20 January.

Chandler, D. “Biopesticides in the UK: Can we get regulatory innovation?” Presentation to 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, Quebec, August.

Chandler, D. and Davidson, G. “Population biology of Beauveria” Presentation to 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, Quebec, August.

Chandler, D. and Grant, W. “Biopesticides: environmental and regulatory sustainability” Presentation to Biopesticides: the Regulatory Challenge, Warwick HRI, 31 October.

Chandler, D. and Grant, W. “Working together across disciplines: challenges for the natural and social sciences”. Presentation to British Association for the Advancement of Science, 2008 Festival of Science, York University, 13 September.

Greaves, J. (2007) “Do we need regulatory changes to make biopesticides a mainstream solution?” Presentation to Relu Conference “Unlocking change in the food chain”, London, 7 November.