The Research Team

1
RELU Re-bugging the System - Promoting Adoption
of Alternative Pest Management Strategies in
Field Crop Systems.

• The Research Team
• Imperial College, London
• Alastair Bailey, Iain Fraser, Matt Thomas,
  Abhijit Sharma, Marco Bertaglia Georgianne
  Griffiths
• Rothamstead Research
• John Pickett, Wilf Powell, Lester Wadhams Toby
  Bruce.
• The Game Conservancy Trust
• John Holland, Barbara Smith Heather Oaten.

2
Overarching Research Objectives

• Understand why biocontrol has not seen
  extensive commercial adoption in UK cereal
  farming
• problem with the science? or
• problem with economics?
• Use Habitat Manipulation Semiochemicals as
  examples of alternative technologies.
• Investigate both potential technical economic
  failure by
• scaling the science
• integrating the science (technologies) and
• understanding the economic decision to adopt.

3
Economics a market failure?

• Adoption decision process dominated by private
  cost/benefit considerations. BUT social
  cost/benefits likely to be significant.
• The problem is really a technology replacement
  decision where the incumbent technology is
  effective, well understood and economic to the
  decision maker.
• New technology has uncertain efficacy, is not
  well understood because it has received far less
  research effort and may not be economic for the
  early adopter.
• Chemical technology may be locked-in on a path
  dependent course.

4
Ecology understanding biocontrol
?
?

• Key questions what is the impact of
• Agricultural intensity on biodiversity?
• Farmland biodiversity on pest control function?
• Natural enemy diversity and pest control function?

5
Generalist predators
Spiders
Rove beetles
Ground beetles
Aphid specific predators
Hoverflies
Parasitic wasps
Lacewings
Ladybirds
6
Biochemical Ecology - Semiochemicals
HABITAT MANAGEMENT coupled with BEHAVIOUR
MANIPULATION can help prevent some pests from
reaching damage levels
Semiochemicals influence spatial distribution of
pest beneficial insects
Non-crop habitats provide resources for
beneficial insect species
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Semio Parasitoids are key natural enemies of
aphids that are attracted by aphid sex pheromone
Effect of aphid sex pheromone on cereal aphid
populations in a commercial winter wheat field
(3D Farming LINK Project)
Aphid load reduced by half
Pheromone impact period
8
Semio- Plant Defence Systems

• Pest damage induces release of volatile distress
  signals which attract parasitoids and repel
  further pests.
• cis-jasmone (derived from from linolenic acid)
  activates plant defence systems.
• Effect plant to plant communication.
• Activation differs between cultivars.

9
Field Scale Ecology

• To evaluate the efficacy and sustainability of
  both Habitat Management and Semiochemical
  Manipulation, in isolation and in combination, as
  pest control technologies across a range of
  scales.
• In single fields embedded in landscapes covering
  four levels of uptake
• Single field with grass strip at the margin only.
• Central field with grass strip surrounded, 1
  field deep, by fields with grass strips.
• Central field with grass strip surrounded, 2
  fields deep, by fields with grass strips.
• Central field with grass strip surrounded, 3
  fields deep, by fields with grass strips.

10
Integrating the understanding from the disciplines

• Beyond the continual feedback between
  disciplines.
• The key integration of both knowledge and
  understanding for the different disciplines and
  research arenas will be a Bioeconomic model.
• Includes models of natural ecosystem function and
  the action of human systems within a dynamic
  integrated structure including intersystem
  feedback, with or without equilibrium.
• To proof our understanding and to provide a
  decision support aid for early adopters.

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Policy Design

• Public Policy Design and integration
• Pesticide Tax?
• Voluntary Agreement?
• Integration with 2nd Pillar schemes (Entry Level)
• Subsidised Early Adopter/Demonstration Farms?
• Private Contract Design
• Optimal Contracts
• Managed Supply Chains
• Harness traceability systems

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Global Aims
Key audience

• Do the appropriate
• science
• at the appropriate scales
• with the appropriate degree of interdisciplinary
  understanding.
• Generate the appropriate results data to
  influence
• the policy design process
• the commercial adoption decision process.
• Generate benefits across society.

• Practitioners
• Farmers
• Agronomists
• Food buyers
• Food Marketers
• Policy formers
• Public policy makers
• Food chain managers
• The wider society
• Food consumers
• Environmental interests.
• The Research community

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Visit the Website

• www.imperial.ac.uk/rebug/