EIP-AGRI Focus Group: Reducing pesticides in pome and stone fruit production: Final report

Fruit growers face many challenges. To produce a competitive yield with desired quality, many growers rely on pesticides. Compared to other crops, fruit production uses a significantly higher quantity of pesticides to control pests, diseases, and weeds, and to regulate growth (e.g. apples are treated with various pesticides 20-30 times a year). These pesticides affect the environment (soil, water, air, biodiversity), non-target organisms, animals, and human health. Therefore, EU and Member State policies seek to reduce the reliance on pesticides in agriculture by designing and implementing more integrated and sustainable approaches, while at the same time safeguarding the competitiveness of EU agriculture. The key question of this Focus Group was ‘How can alternative methods reduce the use of pesticides in pome and stone fruits and support the productivity of the sector in a sustainable way?’. This report presents the outcomes of the Focus Group discussions, along with suggestions for Operational Groups and areas for further research.