Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Apdo.13, E-33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
Dpto. Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Universidad de Oviedo, and Unidad Mixta de Investigación en Biodiversidad (CSIC-Uo-PA), C/Catedrático Rodrigo Uría s/n, E-33006, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
J Environ Manage. 2020 Jul 15;266:110589. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110589. Epub 2020 Apr 23.
While the importance of biological control for crop production is widely acknowledged, research on how farmers perceive on-farm natural enemies remains scarce. This paper examines cider-apple farmers' perceptions and knowledge of the concept of biological control and the specific organisms underpinning its provision (i.e. natural enemies) in the cider-apple orchards of Asturias (N Spain). Although these orchards host a high diversity of natural enemies, certain pests continue to be a problem, e.g. the codling moth and the fossorial water vole. By conducting 90 face-to-face surveys, we found that farmers "under-estimated" the importance of biological control and the role played by natural enemies in suppressing pests from cider-apple orchards. Furthermore, farmers were particularly unaware of the indirect benefits of biological control, such as the increased quality and yield of product. Farmers also perceived that different taxa of natural enemies contribute to biological control to differing extents, for example, birds, such as buzzard, robin and tit, were perceived as the most important natural enemies, while arachnids and insects (excluding ladybug) were perceived as less important. This perceived difference in the biological control contribution of vertebrates and invertebrates could be influenced by farmers' local knowledge, acquired on-farm through daily experiences, as well as from external sources. In addition, we found that farmers did recognize many interactions between natural enemies and pests, although there were serious misconceptions and knowledge gaps. Finally, we revealed that education level, being a full-or part time farmer rather than a 'hobby' farmer, time spent working in agriculture, and orchard size are all factors that positively influence farmer's perception of natural enemies. Our results provide insights for a future management of cider-apple orchards which promotes biological control through: (1) creating initiatives to develop farmers' knowledge regarding biological control and natural enemies, (2) fostering traditional farming systems that contribute to preserving local ecological knowledge of biological control, and (3) establishing networks of farmers so they can learn from each other and share local knowledge.
虽然生物防治对作物生产的重要性已得到广泛认可，但关于农民如何感知田间天敌的研究仍然很少。本文研究了阿斯图里亚斯（西班牙北部） cider-apple 果园中 cider-apple 农民对生物防治概念以及支撑其实施的具体生物（即天敌）的认知和知识。尽管这些果园拥有高度多样化的天敌，但某些害虫仍然是一个问题，例如桃小食心虫和穴居水鼠。通过进行 90 次面对面调查，我们发现农民“低估”了生物防治的重要性以及天敌在抑制 cider-apple 果园害虫方面的作用。此外，农民特别不知道生物防治的间接好处，例如产品质量和产量的提高。农民还认为，不同类别的天敌对生物防治的贡献程度不同，例如，苍鹰、知更鸟和山雀等鸟类被认为是最重要的天敌，而蛛形纲动物和昆虫（不包括瓢虫）则被认为不太重要。这种对脊椎动物和无脊椎动物生物防治贡献的感知差异可能受到农民通过日常经验在农场获得的本地知识以及外部来源的影响。此外，我们发现农民确实认识到了天敌和害虫之间的许多相互作用，尽管存在严重的误解和知识差距。最后，我们发现，农民的教育程度、全职或兼职农民而不是“业余”农民、在农业方面花费的时间以及果园规模等因素都积极影响着农民对天敌的认知。我们的研究结果为未来的 cider-apple 果园管理提供了启示，通过以下方式促进生物防治：（1）制定计划，以提高农民对生物防治和天敌的知识；（2）促进有助于保护生物防治的本地生态知识的传统农业系统；（3）建立农民网络，以便他们可以相互学习并分享本地知识。
