Integrated Pest Management in Europe – History, Policy, Achievements and Implementation

Abstract

Inspired by the pioneering work in Canada and California in the early 1950s, the first European IPM task force -the "Working Group for Integrated Plant Protection in Fruit Orchards" -was established by the International Organisation for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants (IOBC) in 1959. From the beginning, the implementation of IPM proved to be a problem because of its complicated and non-uniform requirements and insufficient economic benefits. In spite of these obstacles, IPM has become an accepted model for plant protection in all European countries and in the European Union. More than 30 working groups of the West and East Palaearctic Regional Sections of the IOBC (IOBC/wprs and eprs) organise research programs and information exchanges and actively promote the implementation of IPM into practice. IPM can be well implemented within the scope of Integrated Production (IP). Respective IP guidelines developed by IOBC/wprs working groups and local production organisations are currently being used, particularly in pome fruits and grapes. Studies have shown that IPM systems yield greater biodiversity and reduce pesticide use by at least 20% compared to conventional farming, as assessed using the treatment index. Some countries, such as Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, have developed national pesticide reduction programs. The European Union also supports IPM by issuing regulations and directives and by funding research programs. National action plans shall help to achieve faster and more consistent implementation of IPM in the Member States.July 11, 1976, is the historic landmark date on which, after reviewing current developments, five IOBC specialists coined the term "Integrated Production" (IP). This important evolutionary step became known as the "Message of Ovronnaz" (Steiner 1977;Boller et al. 1998), widened the dimension of IPM into a holistic approach.

Pests, pesticide use and alternative options in European maize production: current status and future prospects

“…Different initiatives from scientific organizations and policy makers in the EU have the aim of further reducing pesticides and of implementing integrated production in modern agriculture (Boller et al. 2004; Freier and Boller 2009).…”

“…One of the most prominent examples for Europe is the unsustainable use of the herbicide atrazine, which has been banned in Germany and Italy since 1991 and in the remaining EU member states since 2005 (Ackermann 2007). Different initiatives from scientific organizations and policy makers in the EU have the aim of further reducing pesticides and of implementing integrated production in modern agriculture (Boller et al 2004;Freier and Boller 2009).…”

Prey availability and abiotic requirements of immature stages of the aphid predator Sphaerophoria rueppellii

“…The Mediterranean basin has the highest horticultural crop production of Europe (FAOSTAT, 2009), and the surface devoted to organic and integrated production increases every year, particularly in protected (i.e. greenhouse) crops (Freier and Boller, 2009). Horticultural crops have several key pests, aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) being one of the most important.…”

Consumer preferences for sustainable production methods in apple purchasing behaviour: a non‐hypothetical choice experiment

“…However, organic agriculture is not the only alternative. Integrated pest management 1 (IPM) is now widely accepted as plant protection strategy for sustainable farming in all of Europe and is considered to be a standard procedure in perennial crops (Freier and Boller, 2009). However, IPM is not yet regulated at the European level.…”