imperial college, london. re-bugging the system the research team imperial college, london: alastair...

Imperial College, London. Re-bugging the System

The Research TeamImperial 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.

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

http://www.rothamsted.bbsrc.ac.uk/index.html


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.


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.


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?

Communitycomposition

Pest-controlFunction

Agriculturalmanagement? ?

Pest

con

trol

Decreasing species richness0

max

incr

easin

g

redu

ndan

cy

Perfect complementarity

Pest

con

trol

Decreasing species richness0

max

incr

easin

g

redu

ndan

cy

Perfect complementarity


Rove beetles SpidersGround beetles

Generalist predators

Aphid specific predatorsHoverflies

Lacewings Ladybirds

Parasitic wasps


Biochemical Ecology - Semiochemicals

HABITAT MANAGEMENT coupled with BEHAVIOUR MANIPULATION

can help prevent some pests from reaching damage levels

Non-crop habitats provide resources for beneficial insect species

Semiochemicals influence spatial distribution of pest & beneficial insects

O

O


Semio –Parasitoids are key natural enemies of aphids that are ‘attracted’ by aphid sex pheromone

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

20-Jun

27-Jun

04-Jul

11-Jul

18-Jul

25-Jul

01-Aug

Cum

ulat

ive

Aph

id N

umbe

rs (

75 T

ille

rs)

Control Pheromone

Effect of aphid sex pheromone on cereal aphid populations in a commercial winter wheat field (3D Farming LINK Project)

Pheromone impact period

Aphid load reduced by half


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.

Field trials, Cereal aphid counts on Winter Wheat, spring/summer 2000

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

10-May 15 22 31 06-Jun 12

* significant differences P <0.05; spray 12 May

mea

n n

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00 t

iller

s/p

lot

Control

cis-jasmone

*

*


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’: 1. Single field with grass strip at the margin only.2. Central field with grass strip surrounded, 1 field deep, by fields

with grass strips. 3. Central field with grass strip surrounded, 2 fields deep, by fields

with grass strips.4. Central field with grass strip surrounded, 3 fields deep, by fields

with grass strips.


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.


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


Global Aims

• 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.

Key audience

• 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


Visit the Website

• www.imperial.ac.uk/rebug/

imperial college, london. re-bugging the system the research team imperial college, london: alastair...

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