Henry Creissen

Scotland’s Rural College
Henry.Creissen@sruc.ac.uk

Projects

Forestry, Horticulture, Agriculture, Environment
Potential of biocontrol for the sustainable management of plant diseases in Scotland: Opportunities and barriers
Project Lead: Helen Rees
Previous PHC projects found that biocontrol is one of the elements of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) with a role to play in mitigating pesticide withdrawals. However, it is currently unclear how practical biocontrol is as a suitable alternative to pesticides in Scotland, what the opportunities are for deployment across different sectors and what barriers exist to uptake (include regulatory).

Research on biocontrol agents is required to understand a) what relevant previous work has taken place, b) the potential benefits for agricultural, horticultural and forestry applications in Scotland, and c) is the current risk assessment framework and regulatory system fit for purpose?

This project will improve our understanding of the potential of biocontrol agents in Scottish production systems and gardens; synthesising findings from workshops with stakeholders and literature review.
Horticulture, Agriculture
Understanding farmer / agronomist perceptions for decision making in crop health and the impact of that on key metrics such as IPM scores and pesticide usage
Project Lead: Henry Creissen
Previous research shows that better informed farmers and agronomists can make better IPM decisions and score higher in IPM metrics (PHC2020/05). Research has also identified that decision making on farm is often shared between the farm agronomist and the farmer. However, there is a knowledge gap on how factors influencing IPM scores link to available impact metrics such as pesticide usage.

This project will look to improve the flow of IPM knowledge and its uptake to increase the resilience of Scotland’s crops to pests and diseases, whilst reducing reliance on pesticides.

The drivers and barriers to further adoption of IPM practices for different decision makers and for different farm types will be identified, improving the ability to tailor IPM research and knowledge transfer and exchange activities to consider, if not overcome, those barriers and improve uptake.
Forestry, Horticulture, Agriculture, Environment
Biosecurity for plant health: better justification of precautionary measures
Project Lead: Chris Pollard
Whilst it is generally agreed that ‘prevention is better than cure’ in plant health, translating such logic into precautionary actions does not always happen. Precautions can be encouraged in a variety of ways – through development of implementable actions, risk assessments, encouragement of best practice, and general appeals to adopt approaches which prevent future losses. However, this does not adequately address risky behaviour. Whilst better information may not be sufficient to change practices, there is a weakness in our ability to justify precaution. This project seeks to address this gap by considering whether there are different approaches, or additional information which might be considered.

Drawing upon and summarise existing literature, in addition to engagement with experts and practitioners with knowledge of existing sectoral practices in Scotland, UK and internationally, as well as gap analysis, the project will generate a better understanding of the rationale for taking precautions and an improved evidence base with which to justify taking action, answering four main questions:
• What are the current barriers to adopting precautionary measures?
• How can barriers be reduced?
• What are the limitations of the current risk assessment process?, and
• What are the priority areas for action and further research?
Agriculture, Environment
Identifying links between farmer and agronomist perceptions on pest and disease risk, the information sources they use to determine pesticide usage and the uptake of IPM methods
Project Lead: Elliot Meador
Pesticide use remains an important tool in managing pest, weed and disease risks to crops and maintaining profitable production. There are several drivers, including pesticide withdrawals and the biodiversity and climate crises, for reducing reliance on pesticides and promoting the uptake of more sustainable practices through Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This project looks to understand where growers and agronomists currently gather information to form their impression of pest and disease risk and inform their decision making on the need for interventions, pesticide or otherwise. It will interrogate whether perceived risk and pesticide application made match the actual risk to crops.

Impact: Identify accurate, efficient and trusted sources and test whether these sources are influential in appropriate usage of control options across key arable regions and crop types, plus intervention tools or methods that might be needed to manipulate or change how information flows; bespoke to the needs of the Scottish stakeholder network.
Forestry, Horticulture, Agriculture, Environment
Network analysis – where do people in Scotland get their plant health information?
Project Lead: Rehema White, Elliot Meador
Early scoping of plant health priorities with key Scottish stakeholders and discussions at the PHC launch event indicate a complex landscape of plant health information sources, confusion amongst stakeholders and a perception of information overload. To inform future KE methods and priorities, a network analysis is required to identify the sources of information and the strength of their effect on Scottish stakeholder communities.

Impact: Improved understanding of concepts and options amongst the Scottish stakeholder community; a basis for gap analysis by the PHC.

Publications

Horticulture, Agriculture | Final Report and Policy Document

Perceptions of pest risk and differences in IPM uptake by arable farmers and agronomists in Scotland

Authors: Henry Creissen, Elliot Meador
November 2022

Pesticide use remains an important tool in managing pest, weed and disease risks to crops and maintaining profitable production. There are several drivers for reducing reliance on pesticides and promoting the uptake of more sustainable practices through integrated pest management (IPM).  By identifying IPM information networks it may be possible to improve the flow of information to farmers by targeting their preferred information sources.  Better informed farmers and agronomists can make better IPM decisions.  Therefore, this project undertook a telephone survey to collect information on currently perceived invertebrate pest and disease threats in Scotland, the level of IPM uptake, and the information sources they relied upon.  

Agriculture | Policy Document

A new IPM Planning Tool for Scottish growers

Authors: Fiona Burnett, Henry Creissen
March 2021

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a holistic approach to managing harmful organisms which maximizes profitability and minimises negative impacts on the environment. IPM aims to reduce reliance on pesticides and promoting IPM is identified as a key action in support of a National Action Plan. To promote IPM practices and improve on-farm uptake, it is essential to understand current uptake levels and better understand what motivates farmers to further adopt IPM. A new integrated pest management planning tool for Scottish growers has been launched, replacing a previous IPM plan. The new plan uses stakeholder derived metrics to value how important different interventions, such as rotations or varieties, are in achieving sustainable reductions in invertebrate pest, weed and disease risk.