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Recap webinar IPM

Oct 5, 2022 | Events

On the 9^th of September scientists, policy makers, teachers, and representatives from NGO’s from all over the world joined the webinar on Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

The main purpose of the webinar was to identify leads that we can follow to enhance the implementation of IPM and preferably inform the international policy arena. At the webinar we highlighted three good examples of implementation of IPM by showing short documentaries on which experts live commented during the webinar. Next, we were informed about lock-ins and barriers for the implementation of IPM. The webinar was closed by a group discussion on the learnings of the webinar.

Documentary 1: Rice production in Cambodia

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the IPM Innovation Lab collaborated to increase smallholder farmer access to sustainable tools while reducing dependency on chemical pesticides. Due to recent farmer innovation of those tools, rice production has significantly improved. In this video, you will see the technologies that farmers use in rice fields in Cambodia, inspired by the tools introduced by IRRI and the IPM Innovation Lab.

“I like this video very much because I remember my time in Indonesia. I worked with coffee, but I was also always observing the rice fields and there was some research going on, but it was never translated into change. And now we know we need chance and here change happened. And why did it happen? Because it was a multi-actor approach. Farmers, but also people from technology were helping to bring up the biological control.”

Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein

Documentary 2: Flower production in the Netherlands

The use of pesticides in flower production in the Netherlands is relatively high. A bulb grower in the Netherlands saw his soil quality decrease drastically, specifically the abundance of a specific nematode related to bulb production. All the chemicals he tried, didn’t work. Then he realized the biological sanity of his soil was the bigger issue. Eventually, he switched to an organic method. In the video, he explains his practice as an organic grower, his methods, the advantages, the challenges.

“As shown in the flower production case study, the solution to pest problem is not necessarily limited to pest management. The solution is strengthening soil health. The solution is in balancing the fertilizers. So, in the end perhaps we have to start switching the way we think. We are not just managing pests. We are managing an ecosystem.”

Dr. Buyung Hadi

Documentary 3: Coffee production in Kenya

Around 15 years ago, a coffee estate in Kenya started minimizing the use of pesticides through Integrated Pest Management. In this video, the manager of the coffee estate explains the Integrated Pest Management tactics he uses and the role of natural predators and various trees, like the avocado tree.

“Although the focus was on IPM, for me as a landscape ecologist it was a lovely case study on the multifunctionality of landscapes they managed very well. One of the things I found really interesting was the vegetated barriers that they were talking about. They were talking about how they could still stop pests from going from one field to another. They were managing the whole area in terms of soil health and soil fertility as well. So, the multifunctionality and land management aspects were really uplifting.”

Dr. Deepa Senapathi

Presentation: Lock-ins and barriers

After the documentaries, Marilena Gemtou (PhD Agricultural University of Athens) gave a presentation about the barriers at different levels: individual level, practices level, systematic level, and policy level.

Panel discussions

During the discussions Deepa Senapathi made a comment about engagement materials and peer-to-peer network: “The key is engagement, materials is the second aspect. I think engagement materials have to be thought through carefully. The key aspect of any engagement material is the accessibility. Does the person you are trying to target has to access to the information that you are trying to get across to them. Do they have … to respond? Not a one size fits all approach. Peer-to-peer network is extremely important in this context.” Marilena Gemtou also recommended the use of peer pressure. Buyung Hadi pointed out that the way information flows, differs between countries. Subsequently, Rica Joy Flor explained the power of intermediaries. Lasty, Alexandra-Maria Klein had comments about clear aims and bureaucracy: “We have to change the view of the consumer. We have to influence them: this is not high quality, but we have to pay for biodiversity. If we fail doing this, I don’t think we get this change. We have to have clear aims.”

Deepa Senapathi

Marilena Gemtou

Buyung Hadi

Rica Joy Flor

Alexandra-Maria Klein

Want to know the complete story?

Interested in the complete discussions? The recording of the complete webinar is available. Click the link below.

Watch webinar

Follow-up

During the webinar we talked about knowledge exchange, market change, shifting the view from production to management of the environment, certification schemes that may be relevant, and the multi-actor approach that may be relevant. These could all be good entry points for a follow-up on this webinar.

Suggestions?

Which subject would you like to be discussed in the next webinar? Let us know! We appreciate your inspiration.

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