| The goal of C-IPM is to ensure a higher level of implementation of Integrated Pest Management among European farmers. By reanalysing existing data and conducting targeted experiments, BioAWARE will test whether a high richness and abundance of species or functional groups (biodiversity) of weed seed predators assures natural weed control, in the long term, by increasing regulation rates and rendering them resilient to the variation in environmental conditions in EU agriculture. We will then examine both how the weed seed predator diversity can be managed using a combination of in-field and landscape managements, to assure weed seed control, and that can be used to replace or reduce the applications of herbicides as part of weed IPM. To meet the pressing need for farmer-acceptable weed IPM, which they could adopt, we will evaluate the attitudes of farmers (ecological, social and economic) towards natural weed regulation, assured by weed seed predator diversity, relative to herbicide-based weed control. Through co-development by farmers, agronomists and scientists, practical weed IPM solutions will then be developed, demonstrated and evaluated. The ecological, social and economic knowledge we gain for how farmer perceptions change with the resilience of natural regulation, will detail the training, know-how and economic support required to deliver farmer-acceptable IPM that balances natural (biodiversity-derived) and chemical weed control sustainably across the EU. |