Adoption rates of agroecological farming practices remain low amongst European farmers and vary from country to country, despite European or national policies aimed at achieving ‘sustainable agriculture’. Our study, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and conducted in eight European countries in 2023 with 268 farmers surveyed, examines behavioural drivers of adoption of agroecological practices in terms of attitudes, perceived behavioural control, social norms, perceived risk, and the role of formal and informal information sources. The main findings reveal three key points: 1) Farmers were more likely to adopt agroecological practices if they had a positive attitude towards them and felt confident in their ability to implement them whilst social pressure had only a limited impact on adoption. 2) Perceived risks associated with agroecological practices significantly reduced farmers’ willingness to adopt. 3) Formal sources of information had a significant positive effect on the perceived risks, whereas informal information sources did not. However, the latter had a significant positive effect on social pressures, suggesting that they influence farmers’ perceptions of what is socially expected by their communities. These findings imply that to accelerate the adoption of agroecological practices, policy and advisory services should focus on mitigating farmers’ risk perceptions through formal, evidence-based information, thereby fostering positive attitudes and a stronger sense of control.
This study evaluated the biocontrol potential of ten commercially available microbial soil additives and fungicides against major soil-borne pathogens (Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Diaporthe longicolla) to identify immediate, market-ready solutions for farmers, in the case of soil additives without the delay of product registration. In vitro dual cultures demonstrated strain- and pathogen-dependent antagonistic activity, with Pseudomonas and Bacillus being less effective than the tested Trichoderma strains. Regarding bacterial antagonists, the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and lytic enzymes was confirmed in vitro, indicating potential mechanisms of antagonism. Compatibility tests on soybean plants demonstrated no negative effects on germination, overall growth, or nodule abundance in nearly all cases. In greenhouse bioassays, under high R. solani pressure (1.5%) microbial treatments did not significantly restore germination rate and seedling growth. However, T. harzianum T50 (Vitalin Trichoderma) and T. harzianum + P. fluorescens mixture (Trillus), significantly reduced hypocotyl lesion severity and increased the proportion of symptom-free seedlings. Overall, in planta efficacy was highly variable compared to the strong in vitro inhibition. Nevertheless, selected commercial strains show clear potential to mitigate severe disease symptoms under high R. solani pressure.
The parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Anderson & Trueman) spends the dispersal phase of its life cycle on adult honeybees (Apis mellifera L.). The meaning of this phase for both bees and mites is still not well understood. This especially applies to prolonged dispersal phases as a result of brood interruptions. Hence, it is highly important to unravel this phase for understanding the underlying biological mechanisms and implementing this knowledge in beekeeping practice and research efforts. We investigated the effects of brood interruptions on honeybee colonies and the mites naturally infesting them. Reproduction parameters, brood infestation and recapping frequency were monitored over 60 days after brood interruptions of varying durations. Our results show that recapping frequency and mite non-reproduction increased during the interruption of egg laying. The duration of interruption and the time elapsed afterwards additionally affected the occurrence of reproductive failure. Hence, the reproduction of mites was affected by brood breaks immediately and in the long run.
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