Globalization causes plant production systems to be increasingly threatened by invasive pests and pathogens. Much research is devoted to support management of these risks. Yet, the role of growers' perceptions and behavior in risk management has remained insufficiently analyzed. This article aims to fill this gap by addressing risk management of invasive pathogens from a sociopsychological perspective. An analytical framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior was used to explain growers' decisions on voluntary risk management measures. Survey information from 303 Dutch horticultural growers was statistically analyzed, including regression and cluster analysis. It appeared that growers were generally willing to apply risk management measures, and that poor risk management was mainly due to perceived barriers, such as high costs and doubts regarding efficacy of management measures. The management measures applied varied considerably among growers, depending on production sector and farm-specific circumstances. Growers' risk perception was found to play a role in their risk management, although the causal relation remained unclear. These results underscore the need to apply a holistic perspective to farm level management of invasive pathogen risk, considering the entire package of management measures and accounting for sector- and farm-specific circumstances. Moreover, they demonstrate that invasive pathogen risk management can benefit from a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates growers' perceptions and behavior.

PRATIQUE is an EC-funded 7th Framework research project designed to address the major challenges for pest risk analysis (PRA) in Europe. It has three principal objectives: (a) to assemble the datasets required to construct PRAs valid for the whole of the EU, (b) to conduct multidisciplinary research that enhances the techniques used in PRA and (c) to provide a decision support scheme for PRA that is efficient and user-friendly. The research will be undertaken by scientists from 13 institutes in the EU and one each from Australia and New Zealand with subcontractors from institutes in China and Russia. They will produce a structured inventory of PRA datasets for the EU and undertake targeted research to improve existing procedures and develop new methods for (a) the assessment of economic, environmental and social impacts, (b) summarising risk while taking account of uncertainty, (c) mapping endangered areas (d) pathway risk analysis and systems approaches and (e) guiding actions during emergencies caused by outbreaks of harmful organisms. The results will be tested and provided as protocols, decision support systems and computer programs with examples of best practice linked to a computerised European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) PRA scheme.

This paper describes a decision‐support scheme (DSS) for mapping the area where economically important loss is likely to occur (the endangered area). It has been designed by the PRATIQUE project to help pest risk analysts address the numerous risk mapping challenges and decide on the most suitable methods to follow. The introduction to the DSS indicates the time and expertise that is needed, the data requirements and the situations when mapping the endangered areas is most useful. The DSS itself has four stages. In stage 1, the key factors that influence the endangered area are identified, the data are assembled and, where appropriate, maps of the key factors are produced listing any significant assumptions. In stage 2, methods for combining these maps to identify the area of potential establishment and the area at highest risk from pest impacts are described, documenting any assumptions and combination rules utilised. When possible and appropriate, Stage 3 can then be followed to show whether economic loss will occur in the area at highest risk and to identify the endangered area. As required, Stage 4, described elsewhere, provides techniques for producing a dynamic picture of the invasion process using a suite of spread models. To illustrate how the DSS functions, a maize pest, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, and a freshwater invasive alien plant, Eichhornia crassipes, have been used as examples.

In dit rapport presenteren we een effectbeoordeling van zes doelstellingen van de Farm to Fork-en biodiversiteitsstrategieën met betrekking tot vermindering van het gebruik en risico van pesticiden, vermindering van nutriëntenverliezen, vergroting van het areaal in de EU waarop biologische productie plaatsvindt en verhoging van de hoeveelheid land dat bestaat uit landschapselementen met grote diversiteit. Er zijn vier scenario's ontwikkeld waarvan de effecten zijn beoordeeld: (1) vermindering van gebruik en risico van bestrijdingsmiddelen, (2) vermindering van gebruik en verlies van nutriënten (3) vergroting van het biologische areaal en (4) een combinatie van de scenario's 1 en 2 uitgebreid met de doelstelling om meer land met landschapselementen met grote diversiteit te hebben. De effectbeoordeling is uitgevoerd op bedrijfsniveau en heeft betrekking op tien gewassen en zeven caselanden in de hele EU. Met de resultaten van de casestudies is onderzocht wat de gevolgen zijn van deze doelstellingen voor het productievolume van de gewassen in de EU, de prijzen, de internationale handel en indirect landgebruik.In this report we present an Impact Assessment on six objectives of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies with respect to reduction of pesticide use and risk, reduction of nutrient losses, increase of the area in the EU under organic production and increase of the amount of agricultural land under high-diversity landscape features. Four scenarios have been developed for which the impacts have been assessed: (1) reduction of use and risk of pesticides, (2) reduction of use and losses of nutrients, (3) increase of area under organic production and (4) a combination of the Scenarios 1 and 2 extended with the added objective to have more land with high-diversity landscape features. The impact assessment has been executed at farm level, covering ten crops and seven case countries across the EU. The results of the case studies have been used to explore the consequences of these objectives for the production volume of the crops in the EU, market prices, the international trade and indirect land use.

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