Pesticide-free Production Research Articles

Automated Hydroponic Farm System

Current agriculture faces a multitude of issues – limited seasons, excessive pesticide use, sustainability concerns in organic farming, high carbon footprint, and inconsistent produce quality. Traditional methods, restricted by seasons and harming the environment with pesticides, are struggling to keep up with a changing world. This paper proposes a groundbreaking solution: an automated hydroponic farm system. Unlike traditional methods, this system allows year-round, pesticide-free production through advanced growing stations using a precise nutrient delivery technique (NFT). To create perfect growing conditions, a Greenhouse Climate Control System with various sensors regulates factors like temperature, humidity, and light. Additionally, a Central Console acts as the brain of the system, connecting everything and monitoring the entire farm. By automating these processes, this hydroponic system aims to revolutionize agriculture, offering a sustainable, efficient, and high-quality alternative.

Assessing the market opportunities for pesticide-free vegetables in Bangladesh: consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay

The excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture poses threats to ecosystems and human health. To mitigate these risks, researchers have turned their attention to pesticide-free production methods. This study aimed to assess the market opportunities for pesticide-free vegetables (PFVs) through determining consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP), along with identifying factors influencing consumers' WTP decision in three major cities of the country, namely Dhaka, Khulna, and Mymensingh. Employing a multistage cluster sampling method, 150 samples were selected and data collection utilized the android-based app Kobo through direct interviews. The contingent valuation method (CVM) and double-bounded dichotomous choice model (DBDC) were used to estimate WTP and preferences while ordered logit model were employed to identify influencing factors. The findings indicated that over 90% of consumers in Mymensingh and over 92% in Dhaka and Khulna were willing to pay a premium for pesticide-free tomatoes and brinjal. Additionally, more than 18% and 19% of consumers expressed willingness to pay a 20% premium for brinjal and tomato, while over 39% were willing to pay for both a 10% premium. The study revealed that factors such as age, sex, education, household size, and income significantly influenced consumers’ WTP decisions, with age showing a negative correlation, while education and income were positively associated with interest in consuming pesticide-free vegetables. Overall, the study underscores the increasing demand for pesticide-free vegetables in urban areas, emphasizing the need for governments and stakeholders to develop supportive policies for sustainable market development. Res. Agric. Livest. Fish. Vol. 11, No. 1, April 2024: 69-77

Early detection of infestation by mustard aphid, vegetable thrips and two-spotted spider mite in bok choy with deep neural network (DNN) classification model using hyperspectral imaging data

Although exclusion measures (e.g., air filters, biosecurity practices) can be employed to prevent occurrence of pest outbreaks, indoors vegetable farms in Singapore are still susceptible to various arthropod pests. Due to strong interest from the industry to pursue pesticide-free production, indoors pest management is often focused on early detection for timely containment and eradication, implying the importance of robust and vigorous pest monitoring programs. In recent years, application of machine vision technologies, especially hyperspectral imaging (HSI), has been studied for their capacity to early detect pest infestation. However, there is a lack of studies conducted in actual indoor environments and on multiple arthropod pests. Thus, this study aimed to non-destructively collect hyperspectral data of bok choy Brassica rapa subspecies chinensis which were healthy or infested with either mustard aphids Lipaphis erisymi, vegetable thrips Echinothrips americanus or two-spotted spider mites Tetranichus urticae in indoor environment to build deep neural network (DNN) classification model for early detection. Based on HSI data of control and infested plants collected daily over a period of two weeks, we found that point percentage change (PPC) values associated with leaf reflectance in 420–440 nm, 500–520 nm, 620–637 nm, 720–800 nm, and 850 nm were sensitive to infestation by the mentioned arthropod pests. Deep Neural Network (DNN) classification models trained on collected HSI data were found to outperform Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification models. DNN models achieved 92.8 ± 0.4 % overall classification accuracy across all days. As early as two days after infestation, DNN models could achieved classification precision values of 96.4 %, 96.9 %, 93.9 % and 100 % for control plants and plants infested with either aphids, spider mites or thrips respectively. These results highlight the feasibility of multiclass early detection of different arthropod pests and the potential of HSI system coupled with DNN classification as an autonomous plant health monitoring tool in indoor crop production.

The emergence of pesticide-free crop production systems in Europe.

Pesticide risk reduction is a priority in European agricultural policies, but how to reach these targets remains an open question. Against this background, a novel approach for transforming pest management practices is currently gaining momentum in Europe: pesticide-free, non-organic production systems. These involve the non-use of pesticides in parts of crop rotations or entire crop rotations but do not comply with other organic farming regulations. Here we present insights into the first real-world examples of such systems, in Switzerland and Germany. In both countries, pesticide-free production was initiated jointly by farmers and downstream actors some years ago. This was followed by the launch of public support schemes in 2023. We discuss the functioning and impacts of these examples, as well as farmers' adoption behaviour. Compared with organic production, the reviewed pesticide-free production schemes are more flexible and have lower adoption hurdles for farmers, as well as lower yield losses. These characteristics facilitate the large-scale adoption of pesticide-free production systems. Moreover, pesticide-free can become a clear-cut and simple production standard. Pesticide-free production can thus be a disruptive approach to create a tangible 'third way' between conventional and organic production. However, there are various adoption barriers and pesticide-free production would not currently be profitable without support in most cases.

On the definition of pesticide-free crop production systems

Pesticide-free but non-organic production systems have been recently introduced in public and private programs in Europe. However, a key challenge is to define what ‘pesticide-free’ comprises and means. This paper aims to give insights in and critical reflections on the definition and regulation of pesticide-free crop production systems in real-world programs. To this end, we review four examples of public and private pesticide-free production programs in European crop production (i.e. from France, Germany and Switzerland). Our analysis reveals several semantic and regulatory inconsistencies and potential confusion that exists around the term pesticide-free crop production, i.e. we find that it is far from clear-cut what pesticide-free production systems are. For example, programs differ with respect to which part of the crop management cycle is regulated. Moreover, all programs offer various exceptions for pesticide use. Definitions and regulations differ widely across case studies. For example, to participate in governmental programs on pesticide-free production farmers in one country have different requirements than in another. Moreover, governmental regulations not match with those in private programs and vice versa. Pesticide-free production programs can be a useful and viable addition to European agricultural and food systems. However, based on the here presented insights, we formulate eight recommendations for policy and industry how to clarify, align and harmonize pesticide-free crop production.

Development and evaluation of different integrated disease management modules for the cost-effective control of fungal diseases of tomato

Tomato is one of the most popular vegetable crops nationally and internationally used by human beings either cooked and uncooked in various forms including processed products. Various types of diseases are affecting the crop ate starting from its nursery to post-harvesting. Among these, the majority of the diseases are caused by different genera of fungi. Soil-borne fungal diseases are most difficult for manage once the diseases appear in standing tomato crops. A field experiment was conducted by synthesizing different management modules to find the most economical, sustainable and eco-friendly. Based on three years of continuous experimentation on the variety Kashi Aman of tomato for the management of fungal diseases in the nursery and main field, three modules are recommended. The integrated module was the best and most economical. Alternatively, for organic and pesticide-free production of tomato variety Kashi Aman for domestic and international market biological module may be recommended in this area which will be long lasting, absolutely ecofriendly and economical. Good Agricultural Practices (G.A.P) may also be recommended in this area because the module is absolutely pesticide residue-free, sustainable, eco-friendly, long-lasting, organic-based and highly suitable for export.

Can the Part Replace the Whole? A Choice Experiment on Organic and Pesticide-Free Labels.

Chemical pesticides are a serious impediment to agricultural sustainability. A large-scale reduction in their use to secure food supplies requires more innovative and flexible production systems. Pesticide-free production standards bring together the strengths of all participants in the food value chain and could be the catalyst for this transition. Using a choice experiment approach and green tea as an example, this study investigated consumers’ preferences for organic and pesticide-free labels. According to the findings, organic and pesticide-free labels and brands are all major factors that affect consumers’ purchase decisions. Consumers are more willing to pay for organic labels than pesticide-free labels. There is a substitution effect between organic labels and pesticide-free labels. Complementary effects exist between organic labels and national brands, pesticide-free labels, and national brands. Consumer trust has an impact on consumers’ choice of organic labels and pesticide-free labels. The use of pesticide-free labels is an alternate approach for small- and medium-sized businesses in a specific market to lower the cost of organic certification.

Combining ex-ante and ex-post assessments to support the sustainable transformation of agriculture: The case of Swiss pesticide-free wheat production

Abstract Sustainable intensification of agriculture requires the adoption of new production techniques, tools, and programmes on a large scale. This implies substantial shifts in established ways of farming under uncertain information about potential economic and environmental outcomes. Research can support stakeholders such as farmers, industry, and policy in this transformation by providing evidence-based information. The provision of such information can be improved by combining ex-ante and ex-post assessment tools at different stages of policy cycles and projects. We here present a unique combination of ex-ante bio-economic modelling analysis and ex-post econometric analyses based on survey data using the example of a novel pesticide-free wheat production programme in Switzerland. We exemplify how ex-ante and ex-post evaluation can be combined to increase the robustness of results for stakeholders, e.g. on yield losses from pesticide-free production or farmer typologies important for adoption. Further, we show how their alignment can improve future assessments in project and policy cycles, e.g. through the choice of suitable variables explaining farmer decision-making and priors on the distribution of their characteristics. Despite the identified synergies between assessments, we also find that their integration is limited by the timing and information requirements of stakeholders at different stages in the project. Finally, potential synergies in our case study strongly depended on the type of ex-ante models chosen for evaluation and their alignment with ex-post methods. Especially integrating farmer behaviour in ex-ante assessments seems to be crucial to arriving at holistic evaluations of large-scale programmes for sustainable agricultural practices and providing useful information to stakeholders.

Can adoption of chemical pesticide-free farming practices benefit to farmers? An empirical study in shallot production in Central Java, Indonesia

This study aims to provide empirical evidence in the shallot production in Indonesia, what drives farmers to adopt chemical pesticide-free production as sustainable agricultural practices and its impacts on farmers’ income. By using national agricultural survey in 2014, this study employed logit regression and regression analysis to estimate the determinants and impacts of adoption of chemical pesticide-free farming practices among shallot farmers in Central Java. The results of a logit regression model showed that level of education, type of land ownership, participation in farmers group, source of fund, certified seed cost, and cost production were significantly associated with decisions to adopt chemical pesticide-free farming practices. The results of a regression model showed that farmers who adopted chemical pesticide-free farming practices had higher income. Aside the chemical pesticide-free adoption factor, the results showed that farmers’ income from shallot farming were influenced by level of education, harvested area, type of land ownership, cooperative membership, access to credit, access to extension services, and cost of certified seed. Future research may consider the different level of usage of non-chemical inputs among shallot farmers as the adoption is a process and dynamic, taking into account both other potential determinants of adoption and other potential factors affecting farm profitability, and focusing on shallot traders, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. Keywords: agricultural production, famers income, pesticide-free, shallot, sustainable agricultural practice

The adoption of pesticide-free wheat production and farmers' perceptions of its environmental and health effects

The reduction of pesticide use is a prime issue on policy agendas worldwide. However, existing policies often fail to promote widespread adoption of low-pesticide or no-pesticide production practices. Therefore, in order to overcome this obstacle, it is important to understand why farmers hesitate to use more sustainable pest management. To this end, we investigate the relationship between farmers' perception of the adverse environmental and human health effects generated by pesticides and their decision to participate in a novel, pesticide-free wheat production standard in Switzerland. Survey data from 1073 wheat producers reveals that 14% are early adopters of the pesticide-free wheat production program and a further 44% intend to switch to this production scheme in following growing seasons. We find that farmers who perceive risks of pesticides for the environment and human health to be higher are also more likely to adopt pesticide-free production. Our results suggest that a large-scale adoption of pesticide-free production requires a broad set of (policy) instruments beyond purely financial incentives. Our findings thus have important implications for the design of sustainable production schemes.

Pesticide-free but not organic: Adoption of a large-scale wheat production standard in Switzerland

The sustainable intensification of agriculture requires solutions for a large-scale reduction of pesticide use while sustaining agricultural yields. Pesticide-free production standards, which bring together the strengths of all the food value chain actors, could be a cornerstone of this transformation. In Switzerland, a non-organic, private–public standard for pesticide-free wheat production is currently being introduced by the producer organization IP-SUISSE. It is the first of its kind in Europe and may reach a market share of 50% of Swiss wheat production. We here assess the determinants of farmers' participation and willingness to participate in the future. For our analysis, we combine a survey of the entire population of IP-SUISSE wheat producers (4749 farmers, 23.3% response rate) with data on historical farm-level wheat yields, soil properties, weather, climate, weed pressure, and spread of herbicide resistance. Our results indicate that a large-scale establishment of pesticide-free wheat production in Switzerland is possible. We find that farmers' perceptions of positive environmental effects of the production program are key for adoption. Moreover, farmers' expectations of the program’s production effects play a central role. Farmers perceiving large yield losses and increases in production risks are less likely to enter the program. Based on our results, we discuss implications, leverage points, and challenges for designing and implementing large-scale pesticide-free production programs.

Produção e comercialização de alimentos frente a legislação vigente: o caso do mercado popular de São Gabriel da Palha–ES

Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar a experiência de produção e comercialização das famílias camponesas vinculadas ao Mercado Popular de Alimentos de São Gabriel da Palha, Espírito Santo, e os desafios enfrentados por estas diante das exigências jurídicas frente a legislação sanitária em vigor. Considerando que a produção livre de agrotóxicos se tornam cada vez mais um clamor e essencial para a vida humana, esse trabalho possibilitara, recolocar o debate sobre as formas de organização da produção e por sua vez os processos de comercialização dos alimentos, que no caso do Mercado Popular encontra obstáculos legislativos no que tange a forma camponesa de produzir, por conta da lógica capitalista de produzir hegemonizada pelo agronegócio, que impôs sobre as demais formas, um processo de padronização e homogeneização dos alimentos, produzindo um padrão alimentar imposto pelas grandes empresas, onde não se leva em consideração a saúde humana, o bem-estar social e a função social da produção em detrimento do lucro. Através desse processo, a produção camponesa é cada vez mais criminalizada e excluída dos mercados locais. O método utilizado nesta pesquisa, está baseado na revisão bibliográfica, entrevistas com famílias vinculadas ao Mercado, e entrevistas com os consumidores dos alimentos vendidos no Mercado. O resultado obtido, nos evidenciou que a regra imposta pela legislação não dialoga com o cenário atual, que é de escassez de alimentos, tão pouco com as condições de produção das famílias, não se valorizando as identidades, as formas de cultura e os saberes populares acumulados no espaço tempo.

Impact of Exclusion Netting Row Covers on 'Honeycrisp' Apple Trees Grown under Northeastern North American Conditions: Effects on Photosynthesis and Fruit Quality.

Exclusion nets have been used successfully to protect fruit from insect pests of apples under various conditions, but the effect of each particular netting system on the plant itself has rarely been investigated. In this study, a complete exclusion system—in which the soil is also excluded—was used to grow ‘Honeycrisp’ apples for six years in southern Quebec, Canada. Abiotic conditions, as well as plant photosynthesis and fruit quality characteristics (colour, firmness, size, sugar content, number of seeds, ripeness and skin integrity) and yield were estimated yearly and compared in netted (either with or without a rainproof top) and unnetted row units. Although annual variations were high and results showed little or no difference between netted and unnetted rows for all measured variables, with the following exceptions; colour (increased red surface on fruits from unnetted rows some years), size (fruits from unnetted rows were smaller) and maturity (fruits from unnetted rows matured slightly faster). Fruits produced under nets had fewer microcracks at the surface than fruits produced without nets. Reduced cracking possibly helped decrease sooty blotch and flyspeck incidence and severity. Impacts for pest control and prospects for pesticide-free production are discussed.

An exploratory analysis of US consumer preferences for North American pawpaw

The North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal) is a high-value native specialty fruit crop that offers multiple opportunities for commercial value-added products. A survey was conducted to obtain a better understanding of consumer preferences for pawpaws as fresh and value-added food products. The survey was distributed to 524 individuals who were members of the North American Pawpaw Growers Association, attendees of the 2016 International Pawpaw Conference at Frankfurt, Kentucky, and participants at the 2017 Ohio Pawpaw Festival, Albany, Ohio. Respondents were asked to self-identify their positions (consumers or producers) in the pawpaw market. Those who self-identified as consumers were asked to take the survey. A total of 192 responses were collected. Survey results indicated that the majority of the respondents consume fresh or value-added pawpaw products at least once a year. They reported strong preferences for the flavor and texture of fresh pawpaws. Price, origin, and type of production process had statistically significant impacts on consumers’ purchase preferences. The characteristic that most influenced demand was local production—consumers were willing to pay a premium of $5.20/kg for locally produced pawpaws compared to pawpaws of unknown region of origin. Consumers also preferred certified organic and pesticide-free pawpaws to fruit produced using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. The average price premiums consumers were willing to pay for certified organic and pesticide-free fruits were $4.19 and $3.28/kg, respectively. Providing information about the region of origin, organic and pesticide-free production processes can potentially increase consumer demand for pawpaws and their share of the fresh and value-added fruit market.

Comparison of pesticide-free and conventional production systems on postharvest quality and nutritional parameters of peppers in different storage conditions

The peppers were grown using either pesticide-free or conventional production systems and stored at 8°C in one of four storage methods, i.e. regular atmosphere (control), cling film (CF), modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) or a proprietary controlled atmosphere (CA) storage system (Palliflex™, PL) of 2kPa O2+3kPa CO2. Internal atmospheres created by the MAP were periodically assessed during storage, and O2 and CO2 levels in both pecticide-free and conventionally-grown peppers were suitably maintained within recommended limits, 3–5kPa O2+2–8kPa CO2. Weight loss of peppers stored in PL was lower (<4% at 45d) than for other treatments in both production systems. After 45d of storage, peppers stored in PL and control had higher total soluble solids content compared with the CF and MAP treatments in the conventional production system. Titratable acidity and total phenolics content first increased then decreased in all treatments. The contents of ascorbic acid in both pesticide-free and conventionally-grown peppers declined, and β-carotene content increased progressively with storage time. In terms of the production systems, the lowest weight loss and total soluble solids contents were in the pesticide-free production system. Furthermore, the pesticide-free production system had higher titratable acidity, total phenolics and ascorbic acid contents, compared with the conventional production system. The lowest decay incidence was in the conventional production system. In conclusion, the pesticide-free production system could be an alternative production system for pepper growing and PL storage could be used to maintain postharvest quality attributes of peppers up to 45d both in pesticide-free and conventionally-grown peppers.

Adoption of Improved Varieties of Vegetable Crops with Pesticide Use in Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand

The increasing urban demand for vegetables in Thailand has been met through peri-urban areas in the central plains, northern valleys and highland rural areas. Use of modern technology like improved varieties, fertilizer, pesticides, growth hormones, and modern cultivation practices is the common feature of commercial vegetable production in recent periods. Improved varieties of the vegetable crops are considered as the important bio-innovation that affects the livelihood and health aspects of the farmers.This study focused on various aspects related to the adoption of improved or hybrid varieties of vegetable crops in northern Thailand. We analysed the effects of hybrid varieties on household income, self-employment and human health aspect. In addition, we studied about farmers’ opinions of pesticide using in group of pesticide and non- pesticide use and expressed the gender role in different vegetable production activities.The paper is based on the study of commercial vegetable production areas around Chiang Mai city, which is covering two research sites: Mae Wang and Saraphi. Mae Wang is one of the rapidly transforming areas in Chiang Mai valley that provide the situation of fast growing commercial vegetable cultivation mostly in rural settings. Saraphi is the adjoining district to the Chiang Mai city that represents peri-urban commercial vegetable production both conventional as well as pesticide free vegetable production areas.Farmers are getting higher household income from the adoption of improved or hybrid varieties of the vegetable crops. In many cases local farmers have been able to embrace vegetable cultivation as self-employment opportunity as well. Since people are well aware about the negative effects of excessive chemical use in the commercial production, the production of vegetable without pesticide use is on rise in the selected study areas. But, interestingly, the farm-gate and market price was almost similar with or without pesticide use vegetable. However, the non-pesticide farmers confirmed that they still choose to produce the vegetables without pesticide because they believe they save money from the medical payment due to agrichemical poisoning, which generate higher income over all.There is not much difference in involvement of women and men farmers in different production activities. However, less women farmers are less motivated to promote their products to the market by marketing since they believe it would only increase their work, but the outcome from the promotion is low.Another crucial aspect in promotion of commercial production is the proper marketing management. Production areas near the Chiang Mai city are in relatively better situation for getting proper market and price for their produce. But the irony is that organic vegetable producers, despite working in groups, are not involved in organized marketing efforts and thus not been able to tap the market demand and better price for their pesticide free production.

Extreme Grain-Based Cropping Systems: When Herbicide-Free Weed Management Meets Conservation Tillage in Northern Climates

The challenges associated with the adoption of conservation tillage and/or low-input cropping systems, whether organic or herbicide-free, across Canada are shaped by scale, environment, and local practices. A study in eastern Canada captured the challenges of introducing low-input cropping systems in mature (20+ yr) tillage treatments in a barley/red clover/corn/soybean rotation. Each mature tillage system came with its own weed problems, but this did not affect crops such as barley and red clover, which produced similar yields across high and low input systems. However, some form of primary tillage was needed to achieve adequate weed control and yield in organic (ORG) and herbicide-free (HF) systems. The HF and ORG systems with no-till actually failed to produce a corn crop but produced soybean yields that were half or less than that for other treatments. The successful combination of conservation tillage practices and low-input systems in eastern Canada would thus appear to be crop-specific, being easier to achieve in competitive cereal crops. In western Canadian organic agriculture, tillage is practiced with low-disturbance chisel plows instead of inversion plows. However, green manure crops (summer cover crops) are often terminated with tandem discs. Both roller crimpers and mowing can successfully kill annual green manure crops such as field pea and rye, and usually result in reduced weed growth following termination. However, the lack of tillage can result in lower crop yields in wheat following green manure terminated by roller crimping compared to tillage. Challenges for no-till organic practices include perennial weed control and soil fertility. Overall, flexible crop production programs such as the former Manitoba Pesticide Free Production program and the “Agriculture raisonnéeTM” program in Québec are more likely to promote sustained environmental, economic, and social prosperity than rigid adherence to organic or no-till practices.

The BIOEXPLOIT Project

The EU Framework 6 Integrated Project BIOEXPLOIT concerns the exploitation of natural plant biodiversity for the pesticide-free production of food. It focuses on the pathogens Phytophthora infestans, Septoria tritici, Blumeria graminis, Puccinia spp. and Fusarium spp. and on the crops wheat, barley, tomato and potato. The project commenced in October 2005, comprises 45 laboratories in 12 countries, and is carried out by partners from research institutes, universities, private companies and small-medium enterprises. The project has four strategic objectives covered in eight sub-projects. These objectives relate to (i) understanding the molecular components involved in durable disease resistance, (ii) exploring and exploiting the natural biodiversity in disease resistance, (iii) accelerating the introduction of marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering in the EU plant breeding industry, and (iv) coordinating and integrating resistance breeding research, providing training in new technologies, disseminating the results, and transferring knowledge and technologies to the industry.

Preface to the Special Issue 52 (3): BIOEXPLOIT: Exploitation of Natural Plant Diversity for the Pesticide-Free Production of Food

The 17th Triennial Conference of the European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) was organized by the Romanian National Institute of Research and Development for Potato and Sugar Beet in Brasov, Romania, under the leadership of its director Dr Sorin Chiru. The theme of the conference was: “Potato in a Changing World”. The programme included four workshops and one of these workshops was on the EU Framework 6 Integrated Project BIOEXPLOIT. The EU Framework 6 Integrated Project BIOEXPLOIT started in 2005. Participants are from 45 (both public and private) laboratories. The basic objective of BIOEXPLOIT is to explore and exploit the natural biodiversity in the plant kingdom in order to advance the production of food in a pesticide-free manner. The programme deals with four crops (wheat, barley, tomato and potato) and with the pathogens Phytophthora infestans, Septoria tritici, Blumeria graminis, Puccinia spp. and Fusarium spp. Together with EUCARPIA (the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding), the EAPR participates in BIOEXPLOIT by facilitating the dissemination of the results obtained in the project to the potato research community. The EAPR has done so in the past by publishing the special issue of Potato Research on the Canon of Potato Science (Struik et al. 2007 )a nd the special issue on Late Blight and Genetic Modification (Struik 2008). The workshop in Brasov and this third special issue are proof of the continuation of the efforts to disseminate the results of BIOEXPLOIT.

Agronomic performance of Pesticide Free Production under two crop rotations

AbstractPesticide Free Production (PFP) is a pesticide reduction system that removes in-crop pesticide use on a yearly basis. A long-term study was established in 2000 to investigate the effect of crop rotation and frequency of inclusion on the success of PFP, as well as the effect of PFP on subsequent crops in the rotation. The crop rotations being compared were linola–oat–canola–wheat and linola–oat–alfalfa–alfalfa. PFP occurred either once in the rotation (oat) or twice (linola–oat). Weed density and yield were measured in the crops that followed PFP. Oat was a more successful PFP crop than linola because it was better able to compete with weeds. Furthermore, PFP oat had a higher weed density when it followed PFP linola, but this did not influence PFP oat yield. Under the conditions of this study, PFP linola was more successful in the annual crop rotation. Inclusion of alfalfa hay crops in the crop rotation was not effective in lowering weed pressure and, in fact, may have contributed to an increase in weed density. It is concluded that weed species present influenced the effectiveness of alfalfa in facilitating PFP, because major weeds in the study are not effectively controlled by alfalfa. PFP did not have a negative effect on following crops in the rotation (i.e. canola–wheat or alfalfa), regardless of whether one or two consecutive years of PFP occurred in the rotation. No additional herbicide was necessary for weed control in the crops that followed PFP; however, alfalfa hay was weedier for the first year following PFP. This study indicates that PFP is a viable way to reduce herbicide use in a cropping system and that attention needs to be paid to PFP crop selection and crop rotation, particularly when the PFP crop is less competitive with weeds.