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Whilst farmers and growers endeavour to take an ‘holistic’ approach to crop production, and the need for an holistic approach is also implied by IPM, it is unlikely that many producers and their advisors consider the impact of any one management action on the ‘whole crop’. This short paper discusses some of the side effects of pesticide applications on non-target species and identifies some of the sources of information available about them.

There has been a lot of emphasis over the years on the development and use of pesticides that are specific and/or physiologically selective. This is a property of the chemistry and mode of action of the pesticide and the physiological and biochemical attributes of organisms. However, there is also the potential to make pesticides more selective through their judicious use, based on critical selection, timing, dosage, placement and formulation of pesticides (which are often broad spectrum). This paper discusses approaches to increase the ecological selectivity of pesticides and pesticide application methods, in the context of Integrated Pest Management in Brassica crops. Topics covered include minimisation of the dose applied, controlled release and dropleg technologies and the impacts of seed treatments on non-target species.

Pests and pathogens of Brassica vegetables and oilseed rape are mainly managed at a field level. Management of pest insects at a farm level is only suitable for farmers owning compact areas of land, which is not the case in many central European areas. This paper discusses the effects of landscape and region on pests and pathogens in Brassica crops. Topics covered include pest and disease dispersal and persistence, regional races or biotypes, new pests and pathogens, insecticide resistance, conservation biocontrol and monitoring and forecasting.