ENI-BC+

Biocontrol, a word with a wide meaning that covers a multitude of solutions, products and services for crop protection, is promoted by governments, industries and many researchers as the main tool for reducing the use of infamous synthetic pesticides. These are slowly being banned from European agriculture due to their non-target effects on health and the environment. This trend is the outcome of decades of research in developing new concepts and practical solutions, that have now proven their effectiveness. However, the non-target effects of biocontrol solutions have not been studied in depth because it is assumed that because of their biological or environmental origin, they do not have the same negative effects as chemical pesticides. Do biocontrol solutions really have a low environmental persistence and ecotoxicity? Do all the very diverse solutions present similar levels of risks? Could these risks be anticipated and/or avoided? When non-target effects are difficult to anticipate, how should monitoring be implemented after deployment to maximize both safety (for the environment, users and consumers) and the agroecological transition?
In 2020, we initiated a collective investigation of the non-target effects of these biocontrol solutions. A first virtual meeting gathered more than 50 researchers who expressed an interest in the topic. Two main ideas emerged. First, all the biocontrol solutions that deal with the same agricultural issues should be evaluated using the same criteria to provide comparable results. Second, a multidisciplinary approach is mandatory as non-target effects are inherently diverse – ranging from effects on biodiversity to the functioning of human organizations – and their desirability depends on the social group considered. On this basis, it was decided to create the ENI-BC+ research network. Academy 3 helped the community to become more strongly structured and enabled collective research to take shape.
The network aims to promote the study of the non-target effects of crop protection strategies. The ultimate goal is to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, when synthetic pesticides were deployed, and to provide guidelines for choosing the best biocontrol solutions depending on the context and the region. In concrete terms, the network aims to stimulate the study of the non-target effects of pest and vector management strategies by firstly, federating an interdisciplinary scientific community, secondly, initiating new academic research projects, and thirdly, working collectively on interdisciplinary syntheses and conceptual frameworks. The network covers all the strategies (products, techniques and services) designed to protect crops and livestock breeding and to manage vector-borne diseases. It goes beyond the basic definition of biocontrol and proposes an integrative conception of pest and vector management encompassing plant, animal, human and environmental health. This aspiration is reflected in the acronym of the network: ENI, “Effets Non-Intentionnels”, French for non-target effects, and “BC+”, to designate BioControl strategies and more!
The ENI-BC+ network now includes more than 140 researchers from a wide range of disciplines in the natural and human sciences. These researchers work for different research institutes, universities, technical institutes, and French agencies (ANSES and the Ministry of agriculture and food safety). The network is organized around annual workshops attended by some forty scientists, during which lectures and presentations alternate with group discussions facilitated by collective intelligence tools. These workshops have given rise to research projects on specific issues, as well as two working groups on (1) the identification and categorization of target and non-target effects of pest control levers in agroecosystems, and (2) post-approval monitoring of alternative pest control methods. The ENI-BC+ network is, by its very nature, a collective project that involves many people. Only the most active (in the organization team or working groups) are listed below, but the strength of the network rests on all its participants!