Does RNAi-Based Technology Fit within EU Sustainability Goals?

C. N. T. Taning, B. Mezzetti, G. Kleter, G. Smagghe and E. Baraldi,  Trends in Biotechnology,  2020.

European Union (EU) and global sustainability policies emphasize the need to replace contentious pesticides with safe, efficient, and cost-effective alternatives to ensure sustainable food production. However, R&D for alternatives to contentious pesticides are lagging behind and need to be broadened. Here, we discuss how RNAi-based technology can contribute to pesticide risk reduction.

The Farm-to-Fork (F2F) strategyi, one of the pillars underneath the European Commission’s new Green Deal, aims to ensure a more sustainable and food-secure society. Its aims include a reduction in agrochemical inputs, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and antimicrobials, to achieve greater sustainability and health, and reduce loss of biodiversity while ensuring continued crop protection. It envisages various practices that promote lesser pesticide usage, such as integrated pest management (IPM), and the use of precision agriculture and artificial intelligence. It also recommends imposing maximum levels (tolerances) for pesticide residues in imported commodities to enforce sustainable production and pesticide use in countries exporting to the EU. The F2F strategy’s pesticide reduction measures are also cited by the Commission’s concurrent Biodiversity Strategy 2030ii, as a means towards reversing the alarming decline in farmland birds and insects (especially pollinating ones). It also proposes IPM and the establishment of variable landscapes hospitable to natural pest regulators. Furthermore, it envisages organic farming to cover 25% of agricultural land in 2030, and it suggests establishing forests that are resilient towards pests, and the banning of chemical pesticides from use in urban green spaces.


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