The agrosupply sector plays a key role in the transition toward reduced pesticide use by developing and commercializing alternative crop protection market offerings. This article examines the business models of agrosupply actors based on eight cases—including biocontrol, equipment, and digital tools. Results reveal diverse models, some mirroring pesticide approaches and others drawing on digital-economy logics, with providers generally aiming for pesticide-level performance while requiring limited changes to existing practices. In the discussion, we distinguish models according to their implications for ecological transition and suggest that low-sustainability pathways rely on business models largely compatible with pesticide models, with the risk of reinforcing structural lock-ins and hindering future shifts toward strong sustainability.

Plant diversification at field, farm, and landscape scales is a key strategy for protecting crops from pests. But its level of adoption remains confidential, while the overall negative impacts of pesticides are now well established. To understand the obstacles to this adoption, we conducted an extensive review of literature in life and socio-economic sciences. We found that all diversification practices are largely effective in pest control, achieving satisfactory yields and many ecological cobenefits, although context dependent. Plant diversification does not appear solely as an alternative to pesticide-based pest control but as a transformative approach to achieve sustainable agrifood systems. However, its adoption is currently strongly hindered by socioeconomic barriers, including low short-term profitability, rigid agricultural sectors, and limited support from public policies. The most beneficial practices, agroforestry and diversified landscapes, face the greatest obstacles. In contrast, cultivar mixtures, while easier to implement, offer limited cobenefits. Collaboration between scientists, policymakers, and local stakeholders seems essential to scale up plant diversification.

Genetically improved forest reproductive materials are now widely accessible in many European countries due to decades of continuous breeding efforts. Tree breeding does not only contribute to higher-value end products but allows an increase in the rate of carbon capture and sequestration, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. The usefulness of breeding programmes depends on (i) the relevance of the set of selected traits and their relative weights (growth, drought tolerance, phenology, etc.); (ii) the explicit management of targeted and “neutral” diversity; (iii) the genetic gain achieved; and (iv) the efficiency of transferring diversity and gain to the plantation. Several biological factors limit both operational breeding and mass reproduction. To fully realise the potential of tree breeding, the introduction of new technologies and concepts is pivotal for overcoming these constraints. We reviewed several European breeding programmes, examining their current status and factors that are likely to influence tree breeding in the coming decades. The synthesis was based on case studies developed for the European Union-funded B4EST project, which focused on eight economically important tree species with breeding histories and intensities ranging from low-input breeding (stone pine, Douglas-fir and ash) to more complex programmes (eucalyptus, maritime pine, Norway spruce, poplar, and Scots pine). Tree breeding for these species is managed in a variety of ways due to differences in species’ biology, breeding objectives, and economic value. Most programmes are managed by governmental institutes with full or partial public support because of the relatively late return on investment. Eucalyptus is the only tree species whose breeding is entirely sponsored and managed by a private company. Several new technologies have emerged for both phenotyping and genotyping. They have the potential to speed up breeding processes and make genetic evaluations more accurate, thereby reducing costs and increasing genetic gains per unit of time. In addition, genotyping has allowed the explicit control of genetic diversity in selected populations with great precision. The continuing advances in tree genomics are expected to revolutionise tree breeding by moving it towards genomic-based selection, a perspective that requires new types of skills that are not always available in the institutions hosting the programmes. We therefore recognise the importance of promoting coordination and collaboration between the many groups involved in breeding. Climate change is expected to bring in new pests and diseases and increase the frequency of extreme weather events such as late frosts and prolonged droughts. Such stresses will cause slow growth and mortality, reducing forest productivity and resilience. Most of these threats are difficult to predict, and the time-consuming nature of conventional breeding does not allow for an adequate and timely reaction. We anticipate that most breeding programmes will need to revise their selection criteria and objectives to place greater emphasis on adaptive performance, tolerance to multiple environmental stresses, stability in different environments, and conservation of genetic diversity. Testing breeding materials in a variety of environments, including potentially contrasting climates, will become increasingly important. Climate change may also force the incorporation of new genetic resources that provide new useful adaptations, which may involve the use of new, previously unexplored gene pools or hybridisation, with the enormous challenge of incorporating useful alleles without adding along an unfavourable genetic background. Decision-support tools to help landowners and foresters select the best-performing forest reproductive material in each specific environment could also help reduce the impact of climate change.

The 2013 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) introduced the redistributive payment as an optional scheme to redistribute direct support between farmers by granting them an additional payment for the first hectares up to a threshold. In 2021, only 15 per cent of the direct payments went to more than 75 per cent of European farms (European Commission, 2021). The 2023 CAP reform made this scheme compulsory under the name of the Complementary Redistributive Income Support (CRIS). Under CRIS, a farmer receives Basic Income Support (BIS) plus CRIS for each hectare of their farm up to a certain threshold, and then only BIS for the hectares above the threshold, irrespective of any other supports to which they may be eligible (Regulation 2021/2115, Article 29). Member States are free to decide the per hectare amounts of CRIS and BIS and the threshold level below which CRIS is granted. They can also define different amounts of CRIS for different ranges of farm area sizes, and set all these parameters at national or regional level. With some exceptions, Member States must devote at least 10 per cent of their first pillar direct payments on implementing CRIS, which reduces the budget available for BIS accordingly. An analysis of the financial annexes of the national CAP strategic plans shows that, of the 25 Member States implementing CRIS (Malta and Denmark have obtained a derogation), 18 have planned to spend this 10 per cent minimum or more in 2017 (Figure 1), four of them reaching 20 per cent or more. The share of hectares concerned is much more varied: with the same 10 per cent budget, Portugal (PT) will cover 19 per cent of its total supported area while Austria (AT) will cover 68 per cent. 2027 planned shares of first pillar direct payments dedicated to CRIS and of total area covered, by Member State Reading key: On average, the 25 Member States implementing CRIS spend 11 per cent of their first pillar direct payment budget on CRIS, covering 53 per cent of the total supported area. Source: Authors' calculations based on national CAP strategic plans. As intended, CRIS leads to redistribution of part of the payments from larger to smaller farms. However, the farm size up to which farmers actually benefit from the policy is not apparent from the scheme parameters and may be well above the CRIS threshold. Take the example of Czechia's strategic plan (Figure 2). In 2027, a 200 ha Czech farm will receive a total of 36,300 € (green line), with 13,200 € coming from BIS (66 €/ha on every hectare; blue line), and 23,100 € coming from CRIS (154 €/ha up to 150 ha; yellow line). Czechia example. Total support at the farm level as a function of farm size, with and without CRIS (2027 financial year) Note: The two dotted vertical lines represent respectively the maximum number of hectares eligible for CRIS in Czechia (150 ha) and the size up to which farms actually benefit from CRIS (430 ha). Source: Authors' calculations based on Czechia's national CAP strategic plan. Instead, if the same total budget were to be distributed only through a uniform payment per hectare, the same farm would receive a total of 24,000 € (120 €/ha on every hectare; red line). A comparison of the green and red lines shows that farms with a size equal to the CRIS threshold benefit most from the redistribution. However, in Czechia, even farms of up to 430 ha should benefit from CRIS, which is almost three times larger than the 150 ha threshold. Figure 3 reports the results of similar calculations for the 25 Member States implementing CRIS, together with their 2020 average farm area. While the maximum area of beneficiary farms is always higher than the CRIS threshold by construction, it is also higher than the average farm size in most cases, suggesting that the degree of redistribution varies between countries. Key area measures indicating the redistributive extent of CRIS, by Member State (2027 financial year) Reading key: In Czechia (CZ) the maximum number of hectares eligible for CRIS is 150, but farms of up to 430 ha benefit from the redistribution of payments (see Figure 2). Note: In Spain (ES), the implementation of CRIS involves 20 regions and 2 payment thresholds and levels per region; the maximum number of eligible hectares therefore ranges from 8.43 ha to 149.88 ha; an overall average of 55 ha is used here. Sources: Authors' calculations based on national CAP strategic plans and Eurostat for the 2020 average farm size. From this analysis we conclude that while the new CRIS scheme does redistribute income support from larger to smaller farms, the maximum size of farms that actually benefit from this redistribution is well above the threshold up to which the additional payment is granted. In other words, CRIS payments are still far from being exclusively targeted at the smallest farms.

Meeting the challenges of agroecological transition in a context of climate change requires the use of various strategies such as biological regulations, adapted animal and plant genotypes, diversified production systems, and digital technologies. Seeds and plants, through plant breeding, play a crucial role in driving these changes. The emergence of genome editing presents a new opportunity in plant breeding practices. However, like any technological revolution involving living organisms, it is essential to assess its potential contributions, limits, risks, socio-economic implications, and the associated controversies. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of scientific knowledge on genome editing for agroecological transition, drawing on multidisciplinary approaches encompassing biological, agronomic, economic, and social sciences.

Seed innovation is one major factor for improving agricultural productivity. For some self-pollinated varieties, such as wheat, farmers have the option to buy certified seed from seed dealers or to use their own farm-saved seed. Historically, farmers could use farm-saved seeds for free, which led to reduced incentives to innovate for private breeding companies. In recent decades, several countries have established different royalty systems for farm-saved seeds to favor research investment. We developed a theoretical model to compare these different systems. We compared six stylized systems by analyzing their impact on incentives to innovate, as well as production efficiencies at both the seed and agricultural production levels. Our findings indicate that royalty systems allowing for a certain proportion of farm-saved seeds result in improved welfare. The systems that lead to the highest total welfare levels are those in which the royalty level on farm-saved seeds is regulated. This includes systems where the royalty is either directly defined by a regulator (as in the French or UK systems) or imposed to match the royalty level of the certified seeds (as in the Australian system). The Australian system performs better under high research costs. Conversely, under low research costs, the best system is either the French or the UK system, depending on the relative cost of producing farm-saved seeds versus certified seeds. In conclusion, it is possible to design efficient royalty systems to create and produce innovation, in a context where farmers can self-produce this innovation.

CONTEXT Despite their interest for agro-ecological transition, grain legumes remain poorly cultivated in France. One reason is the low availability of seed innovations for farmers which, to a large extend, is related to the low incentives to innovate for these crops which represent a small acreage. OBJECTIVE In this article, we analyze the link between market size and the efforts made to create, diffuse and value innovation. We compare two value chains related to two field crops in France that mainly differ in terms of market size, namely, pea and wheat. Our analysis focuses more specifically on the seed-related innovations created in the upstream part of these value chains. In both of these cases, innovation relies on multiple complementary activities carried out by different actors, including the creation of the innovation, the production and diffusion of technical knowledge, the production and distribution of the innovation, and its valorization by downstream users. METHODS The two case studies on the pea and wheat sectors were conducted using a qualitative approach based on public documentation, 16 semistructured interviews with various actors in the innovation system of the two value chains and data on commercialized pea and wheat varieties. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION We show that the level of investment in each of these activities is highly related to market size. This result is first explained by the fact that part (if not all) of the cost of these activities is fixed; that is, these activity costs do not depend on the diffusion of innovation. This result is also explained by the complementarity of these activities, which makes the investment in one activity less beneficial if the investment in complementary activities is low. As a consequence, the effect of market size on innovation is self-reinforcing in those cases where innovation relies on different activities managed by different actors. SIGNIFICANCE In agricultural sectors, where there is a need for innovations in both large and small markets, this result calls for an evolution of innovation funding mechanisms to attenuate the impact of market size.

The economic efficiency of conventional breeding strategies for forest trees based on biparental crosses is compared with that of alternative strategies based on pedigree reconstruction using molecular markers. Analyses of economic efficiency is based on comparisons of breeding scenarios corresponding to the same total investment. The first step is the description and cost evaluation of each basic operation, from crossing to genetic selection and clonal archive establishment. Breeding scenarios are then compared by stochastic sampling with a parametric genetic model (POPSIM), the comparison criteria in this case being genetic gain in the seed orchard for a given level of genetic diversity. Additionally, the economic gain resulting from the use of improved material is estimated for different levels of breeding investment. Our analysis shows that genotyping costs account for a much smaller proportion of total investment than phenotyping costs. We also show that, in comparisons of breeding scenarios corresponding to the same total investment, the three main breeding strategies (biparental crosses, polymix crosses, and open pollination) achieve similar genetic gains provided that sufficiently large numbers of parents are considered. These results open up promising perspectives for the wider integration of molecular markers into forest tree breeding strategies.

Crop improvement is a key innovation area in the pursuit of sustainable food systems. However, realising its potential requires integration of the needs and priorities of all agri-food chain stakeholders. In this study, we provide a multi-stakeholder perspective on the role of crop improvement in future-proofing the European food system. We engaged agri-business, farm- and consumer-level stakeholders, and plant scientists through an online survey and focus groups. Four of each group's top five priorities were shared and related to environmental sustainability goals (water, nitrogen and phosphorus efficiency, and heat stress). Consensus was identified on issues including considering existing alternatives to plant breeding (e.g. management strategies), minimising trade-offs, and addressing geographical variation in needs. We conducted a rapid evidence synthesis on the impacts of priority crop improvement options, highlighting the urgent need for further research examining downstream sustainability impacts to identify concrete targets for plant breeding innovation as a food systems solution.

Crop breeding is one of the main tools which can assist in future-proofing food systems for more sustainable outcomes. In order to ensure priorities are aligned with the needs and wants of food system actors, it is essential to engage with key stakeholders to understand preferences on plant breeding solutions. This study presents results from a series of online focus groups conducted with agricultural production related stakeholders (i.e. farmers and farmer representatives, policymakers and NGOs) regarding the potential for crop improvement to future-proof European food systems. Stakeholders shared concern around climate change and environmental impacts (particularly drought and heat stress), and general agreement about the need to develop resilient crops which combine multiple positive attributes, while reducing trade-offs and negative externalities. Stakeholders also prioritized plant breeding solutions for areas where they felt they had little agency, and existing alternative solutions, such as improving input use efficiency, or altering diets to be considered where these are available. This highlights the need for the crop breeding community to focus its attentions on the 'most hard to fix' issues, where in-field measures are currently not offering viable solutions, to maximize acceptance and adoption by agricultural production stakeholders. It also highlights that consideration of trade-offs, within plant and within a broader agri-food context, must be integrated into crop breeding research and development, with trade-off analysis an explicit component of breeding research. Understanding broader agri-food system knock-on effects of plant innovation is a non-trivial challenge requiring interdisciplinary research and close partnerships with food system stakeholders.

In the context of global environmental change, European forests are expected to fulfil a broad range of functions, including the supply of raw materials to the bioeconomy, biodiversity preservation, and the provision of ecological services. Given fast progress in applied genetics, the selection and diffusion of genetically improved forest reproductive material (FRM) has a role to play towards the achievement of some of those goals. We therefore investigate European forest tree breeding conceived as an innovative activity on the basis of four case studies (eucalyptus in Portugal, maritime pine in France, and Norway spruce in Sweden and Finland), using a conceptual framework combining the innovation system approach and the economics of innovation. The genetic progress achieved for each of those species has been steady since the beginning of tree breeding activities. Despite that, we identify both systemic issues and market failures that hinder FRM genetic innovation and make the prospects of a forest tree breeding revolution unlikely. While the innovation systems in the studied countries are structurally sound, we identify several functional deficiencies. We also identify incentive problems limiting both supply and demand of genetically improved FRM. On the demand side, forest owners value improved FRM only moderately because of long lags between plantation and harvest, imperfect knowledge of the potential gains from adoption of genetically improved FRM, and risk aversion. On the supply side, returns to investments in genetic improvement are heavily constrained by the slowness of the breeding process, capacity constraints related to FRM production, limited demand-pull and regulatory uncertainty. Those incentive problems are partially overcome in situations where the industry is vertically integrated, from FRM production to wood processing, as observed in the case of eucalyptus in Portugal or Norway spruce in Sweden. In the other cases, public support for breeding programmes is paramount.

This article addresses the value of information that affects the ambiguity faced by a decision maker. Our analysis is applied to the case of a farmer whose production can be damaged by a pest attack with unknown probability, this damage being reduced if the farmer decides to use a pesticide. Early warning systems have precisely been implemented in many countries to help farmers avoid inappropriate decisions in terms of pesticide use. We investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, how farmers value these systems. We propose a two-state self-insurance model in which an α -MaxMin Expected Utility farmer may use pesticides that reduce the loss in the accident state while incurring a cost in both states. Her decision to self-insure or not depends on risk and ambiguity attitudes. We compile and compare the value of two types of information leading to a reduction of ambiguity and analyze their properties with respect to ambiguity attitude. Both types of information are valued positively if the farmer is ambiguity averse. We conduct a framed field experiment in which farmers and agricultural students have to decide whether or not to apply pesticides depending on risk, ambiguity and the associated monetary gains resulting from pesticide cost. The experimental findings support the theory. The average value of information among all participants is between €0.9/ha and €3.3/ha depending on the information gain.

In the context of global environmental change, European forests are expected to fulfil a broad range of functions, including the supply of raw materials to the bioeconomy, biodiversity preservation, and the provision of ecological services. Given fast progress in applied genetics, the selection and diffusion of genetically improved forest reproductive material (FRM) has a role to play towards the achievement of those goals. We therefore investigate EU forest tree breeding conceived as an innovative activity on the basis of four case studies (eucalyptus in Portugal, maritime pine in France, and Norway spruce in Sweden and Finland), using a conceptual framework combining the innovation system approach and the economics of innovation. The genetic progressed achieved for each of those species has been regular since the beginning of tree breeding activities. Despite that, we identify both systemic issues and market failures that hinder FRM genetic innovation and make the prospects of a forest tree breeding revolution unlikely. While the innovation systems in the studied countries are structurally sound, the private investment in breeding activity is limited and observed only in some cases. This, in turn, is explained by incentive problems limiting both supply and demand of genetically improved FRM. On the demand side forest owners value improved FRM only moderately because of long lags between plantation and harvest, imperfect knowledge of the potential gains from adoption of genetically improved FRM, and risk aversion. On the supply side, returns to investments in genetic improvement are heavily constrained by the slowness of the breeding process, capacity constraints related to FRM production, limited demand pull and regulatory uncertainty. Those incentive problems are partially overcome in path-dependent situations where the industry is vertically integrated, from FRM production to wood processing, as observed in the case of eucalyptus in Portugal or Norway spruce in Sweden. In the other cases, public support for breeding programmes is paramount. Therefore, a better use of FRM genetic improvement to address the challenges faced by European forests requires efforts to communicate the benefits - pecuniary or otherwise - of genetically improved trees to forest owners, to compensate forest owners for the provision of environmental externalities, and to make future regulations more predictable.

Background: The development of new genomic techniques (NGTs) has the potential to address some future challenges related to food security, agroecology and global warming. NGTs encompass ZFN-1, ZFN-2 and ZFN-3 technologies, TALENs, Meganucleases, CRISPR-Cas, and Oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis. The regulation of innovations based on NGT is sensitive and debated in many countries around the world. Scope and approach: To better understand the possible consequences of NGTs and their potential applications to plant and related food production, we conduct a scoping review of the literature focusing on economic issues related to NGT. This review covers a rather recent literature, namely, published mainly over the last 5 years, and we also underline the overlooked issues. Our review leads us to present the main issues related to the consumer perception, the supply of NGT related to the research effort, the intellectual property rights and the regulation. Key findings and conclusions: The socio-economic factors affecting the emergence and impacts of new genomic techniques in agriculture are unevenly analyzed in the literature. A large part of the literature focuses on regulation issues. However, a clear understanding of both consumer preferences and supply chain organizations is also essential for understanding the possible emergence and the impact of NGT, but these issues raise less attention. We also insist on the necessity of evaluating the option value of NGT that would thwart the possible but unlikely disappearance of some conventional food productions.

Comparing the economic efficiency of alternative strategies for breeding requires to compare the genetic gain obtained with breeding schemes that represent the same total investment. In this chapter, we present a generic method to assess this economic efficiency for alternative breeding schemes. After presenting the baseline framework and the necessity of comparing breeding schemes with equivalent total investment, we propose one illustrative example on wheat breeding. In this application, we compare the use of conventional breeding and genomic selection. With this example, we explain the requirements and the different steps to implement this method. At last, we discuss several extensions of the baseline model.

Given the negative environmental effects of conventional agricultural techniques, the need for biodiversity-friendly agriculture systems that rely more on ecosystem services and less on chemical inputs is becoming increasingly urgent. In this paper, we focus on crop protection strategies that are alternatives to the use of pesticides. Diversification of the plant component of agricultural areas at different space and time scales has been presented as a powerful socio-economic and agro-ecological mechanism for the sustainable control of pests. Our interdisciplinary group of scientific experts examined the literature on the ecological effects of plant diversification on pests and their natural enemies, as well as the social science literature on the conditions for farmers to adopt the corresponding practices, to assess the potential offered by plant diversification. We developed a conceptual framework that connects the agro-ecological and socio-economic components of an agricultural landscape in a dynamic loop accounting for interactions among elements at different spatial and temporal scales and their feedback effects. This article presents this framework and illustrates its application to the case of wheat production and protection. By explicitly connecting each level of agro-ecological organization with the potential socio-economic drivers and limitations underpinning the adoption and implementation of plant diversification in landscapes, this framework makes it possible to analyse the synergies and antagonisms between different modes of diversification and the conditions of their deployment. Exploring this framework is a prerequisite to the identification of opportunities and key feed-back loops for designing diversification strategies that unlock the agro-ecological potential of future production systems. We conclude that there is a need for interdisciplinary research in experimental landscapes involving farmers and other local stakeholders to design sustainable future agricultural landscapes that deliver high levels of biological control services.