Its declared aim is to substantially reduce the use of synthetic chemical crop protection products to a minimum by 2050. On 17 May 2019, leading European researchers will meet in Berlin to develop a strategy paper and roadmap, identify research gaps and activities to overcome them.
Today, synthetic, chemical-based crop protection products are used intensively in agriculture around the world in order to protect plants and crops against pests and pathogens. However, the use of these pesticides also has an impact on the environment and the climate. In addition, more and more scientific studies indicate that the use of pesticides can negatively affect biodiversity and human health, particularly if used inappropriately and their combined effects are still not well understood. Banning them overnight with no alternative would pose major problems for conventional agriculture largely relying on the extensive use of pesticides. The need for research is still very high and requires concerted action.
There is one thing however that the scientists at ZALF, JKI and INRA are sure of: Fundamental changes in agriculture will be needed to drastically reduce the use of synthetic chemical pesticides. This is why they began to develop a research strategy in 2018 with other European institutions under the title “Toward chemical pesticide-free agriculture”. In October 2018, they presented a first draft at an international workshop in Paris. This was the starting signal for a European network which has set itself the goal of paving the way for a chemical-pesticide-free agriculture on the basis of excellent research on a joint scientific, political and social level. In the meantime, the joint draft strategy has been further developed and is now, for the first time, attempting to set a uniform and coordinated framework for further research, providing food for thought for politics and society and forming the starting point for the further growth of a European research network. It focuses in particular on the contemporary challenges that conventional agriculture has to overcome. After all, the quantity, quality and price of agricultural products often depend on the extensive use of pesticides. The researchers also foresee great potential in plant breeding.
Digitization and new technological developments are further helpful building blocks for the transition to low-pesticide agriculture, which must be used in a targeted manner. It is also necessary to expand our knowledge of alternatives to chemical pesticides, such as the use of micro-organisms and plant extracts, and to investigate in depth the interaction between plants and their pests or pathogens. In particular, long-term studies are required here in order to be able to make reliable statements. The research strategy outlines which research will be necessary in the most diverse disciplines in the coming decades and this will now be elaborated further in a roadmap and strategy paper. Among other things, production systems and methods must be put to the test and re-evaluated; breeding progress must be better exploited.
“We want to play an active role in shaping the path to the lower-pesticide agricultural systems of tomorrow”, summarizes Prof. Dr. Frank Ewert, Scientific Director of ZALF and co-initiator of the initiative. “European agricultural research could play a pioneering role worldwide and, together with politics and practice, could not only develop crop production systems that are climate and environmentally friendly, but also new innovative products, technologies and services for sustainable agriculture in the 21st century.”
