Incentives and policies for integrated pest management in Europe: a review

Summary

Integrated pest management and organic farming are alternatives for sustainable agriculture and less pesticide use in the European Union. All professional users of pesticides in the European Union should follow the general principles of integrated pest management from 2014. States should report to the European Commission on their national action plan for the effective application of those general principles through crop-specific guidelines. The major remaining issues are: (1) when guidelines are not already applied, what incentives would encourage European farmers to adopt those guidelines? (2) How and to what extent should public money be used to promote the adoption of guidelines? Here, we review the adoption of integrated pest management in Europe. We deliver a framework to understand the drivers of changes in farmers’ pest management practices. This framework also helps to understand farmer reaction to different policy incentives.