Landscape features to improve pest control in Agriculture

Summary

Despite wide acceptance of the importance of integrated pest management, pest control in most cropping systemsdepends on the extensive use of pesticides, with detrimental effects on environmental and human health. Theseeffects have led to many pesticides being removed from use, increasing demands for the rapid development ofalternative solutions. Biological pest control aims for control through natural enemies, which significantly reducesand even eliminates pesticide use in crops. The role of noncultivated areas in agricultural landscapes in supportingbiodiversity functions, such as the biological control by providing natural enemies with food and refuge, is onlypartially understood.Efficient implementation of biological pest control requires a wide range of knowledge and skills, not leastthose of farmers. Here we suggest the promotion of so called operational groups composed of farmers, scientists(agronomists and ecologists), extension service advisors, agribusiness representatives, and consumer associations to create objectives, strategies, and procedures to be realized at the local, regional, or national level. In this context, it is proposed that farmers will play a crucial role in providing solutions, as well as implementing, and disseminatingpractical knowledge and the concrete implementation of solutions.