Classical and augmentative biological control against ... - IOBC-WPRS

Chapter 8
Identified difficulties and conditions for field success of biocontrol.
4. Socio-economic aspects: market analysis and outlook
Bernard Blum 1 , Philippe C. Nicot 2 , Jürgen Köhl 3 and Michelina Ruocco 4
1 International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association, Blauenstrasse 57, CH-4054 Basel, Switzerland
2 INRA, UR407, Unité de Pathologie Végétale, Domaine St Maurice, 84140 Montfavet, France
3 Wageningen UR, Plant Research International, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, P.O. Box 69,
6700 AB Wageningen, The Netherlands
4 CNR-IPP, Istituto pel la Protezione delle Piante, Via Univrsità 133, Portici (NA) Italy
With estimated sales amounting to only 200 Mio€ in Europe in 2008, the market for biological
control agents appears to be extremely small compared with the 7 000 Mio€ turnover achieved with
chemical pesticides. However, very important efforts have been undertaken for the development of
biocontrol agents. The OECD estimated that 5 000 Mio$ have been spent worldwide in public
research for biocontrol during the last 40 years. This amounts to a yearly average of 500Mio$, not
far from the 600 Mio$ spent yearly in research by the agrochemical industry, but with a
comparatively poor result!
In the Conference on biological control organised in 2003 by IBMA in Béziers, France, the
major stakeholders (farmers, retailers, distributors, regulators etc.) have provided a list of gaps
considered to play a role in preventing wide adoption of biocontrol products. This list was meant to
cover all potential explanations, but provided neither figures nor priority ranking, making it difficult
to prioritize actions for improvement. It was however a general opinion that the complicated and
costly system of registration was the major reason of the problem. As a result, important efforts
have been undertaken to convince the regulators to adopt more facilitating procedures for the
registration of biologicals. These efforts were not without effect and the newly adopted “Pesticides
package” makes it easier, under certain conditions, to register biologicals. In the meantime, several
EU member states have adopted easier registrations tracks, such as the Biopesticides Scheme in the
UK, for example.
In reality, the unique assumption that the current regulations in Europe significantly hamper
the development and the use of biologicals does not seem to be proven by the facts. During a very
long period, the biologicals were not subject to registration and very few products were brought
successfully to the market. At the same time countries such as the USA, New Zealand or Japan have
adopted very liberal registration procedures, but the sales of biologicals remain marginal.
In the frame of ENDURE, it has been therefore decided to get a detailed and quantified idea on
the gaps which, in Europe, restrain the adoption of biologicals, especially at the users and
commercial levels. In order to achieve this objective, a Pan-Europa survey was undertaken from
2007 until 2008, with the assistance of the public opinion organisation Agridata.
Methodological approach: survey of European farmers
Since no validated data were available about the real market and the use of biological control agents
in Europe, it has been necessary to build up a form of electronic map of the European agriculture
and of the distribution of the potential users.
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