41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology
and 9th International Conference on Bacillus thuringiensis

Agriculture faces a serious challenge to develop systems of plant protection that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. At present, most plant protection against agricultural pests relies heavily on chemical pesticides. These are among the most highly regulated of chemicals, but there are still legitimate concerns about their external costs. Left unchecked, externalities drive a wedge between freely determined market prices and socially optimal prices. There is a clear rationale, therefore, for interventions that reduce externalities and to ensure market prices internalise those externalities that remain. In this presentation, the impediments to the adoption of biologically-based alternatives to chemical pesticides will be considered from a socio-economic point of view. Lack of knowledge in these areas is acting as a barrier to the development of sustainable agriculture in Europe and elsewhere. Over reliance on chemical pesticides could be remedied in part by substitution with alternative plant protection technologies, including microbial control products, done as part of Integrated Pest Management. However, if substitution is to be a legitimate way forward, then a new understanding is required of the external costs of pesticides, the costs and benefits of alternatives, and the effectiveness of policy instruments used to facilitate substitution.