Hilaire Johny, Tindale Sophie, Jones Glyn, Pingarron-Cardenas Gabriela, Bačnik Katarina, Ojo Mercy, Frewer Lynn J
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU UK.
National Agri-Food Innovation Campus, Fera Science Ltd (Fera), Sand Hutton, York, YO41 1LZ UK.
Agric Food Secur. 2022;11(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s40066-022-00366-5. Epub 2022 Mar 13.
Research into public risk perceptions associated with emerging risks in agriculture and supply chains has focused on technological risks, zoonotic diseases, and food integrity, but infrequently on naturally occurring diseases in plants. Plant virus infections account for global economic losses estimated at $30 billion annually and are responsible for nearly 50% of plant diseases worldwide, threatening global food security. This research aimed to understand public perceptions of emerging risks and benefits associated with plant viruses in agriculture in Belgium, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK.
Online qualitative semi-structured interviews with 80 European consumers were conducted, including 20 participants in each of Belgium, Slovenia, the UK, and Spain. Microsoft Streams was used to transcribe the interview data, and NVivo was utilized to code the transcripts and analyze the data.
The results indicate that, while study participants were relatively unfamiliar with the plant viruses and their potential impacts, plant viruses evoked perceived risks in a similar way to other emerging risks in the agri-food sector. These included risks to environment and human health, and the economic functioning of the relevant supply chain. Some participants perceived both risks and benefits to be associated with plant viruses. Benefits were perceived to be associated with improved plant resistance to viruses.
The results provide the basis for risk regulation, policy, and communication developments. Risk communication needs to take account of both risk and benefit perceptions, as well as the observation that plant viruses are perceived as an emerging, rather than an established, understood, and controlled risk. Some participants indicated the need for risk-benefit communication strategies to be developed, including information about the impacts of the risks, and associated mitigation strategies. Participants perceived that responsibility for control of plant viruses should be conferred on actors within the supply chain, in particular primary producers, although policy support (for example, financial incentivization) should be provided to improve their motivation to instigate risk mitigation activities.
对农业和供应链中新兴风险相关的公众风险认知的研究主要集中在技术风险、人畜共患疾病和食品完整性方面，而对植物自然发生的疾病关注较少。植物病毒感染造成的全球经济损失估计每年达300亿美元，占全球植物疾病的近50%，威胁着全球粮食安全。本研究旨在了解比利时、斯洛文尼亚、西班牙和英国公众对农业中植物病毒相关新兴风险和益处的认知。
对80名欧洲消费者进行了在线定性半结构化访谈，比利时、斯洛文尼亚、英国和西班牙各有20名参与者。使用Microsoft Streams转录访谈数据，并利用NVivo对转录本进行编码和分析数据。
结果表明，虽然研究参与者对植物病毒及其潜在影响相对不熟悉，但植物病毒引发的感知风险与农业食品部门的其他新兴风险类似。这些风险包括对环境和人类健康的风险，以及相关供应链的经济运行风险。一些参与者认为植物病毒既有风险也有好处。好处被认为与植物对病毒抗性的提高有关。
研究结果为风险监管、政策制定和沟通发展提供了依据。风险沟通需要考虑风险和益处的认知，以及植物病毒被视为一种新兴风险而非既定、已知和可控风险的观察结果。一些参与者表示需要制定风险-益处沟通策略，包括有关风险影响的信息以及相关的缓解策略。参与者认为控制植物病毒的责任应赋予供应链中的行为主体，特别是初级生产者，不过应提供政策支持（例如财政激励）以提高他们开展风险缓解活动的积极性。
