1st Breakout Session - Green Team: H. Browning, Leader
List opportunities for commercialization of biocontrol.
- Expedited review and registration.
- Partnering between industry and academia.
- User Empowerment.
- Expanded base of available agents - develop a database.
- Detailed understanding of the mode of action for agents.
- Potential partners and niche opportunities for small businesses.
- Improving education on use of BC strategies, including multiple tactic integration.
- Increase communication with organic/non-traditional/sustainable ag systems.
- Legislation to create opportunities.
- Monetary incentives to encourage commercial interest.
- End user needs understood.
- Artificial rearing/presentation/delivery systems.
- Advancement in understanding of bacteria and fungi as BC agents.
- On-site fermentation capabilities.
- Cottage industry starter kits.
- Increased role for independent pest management advisors.
- Increased involvement of mass media in education about biological control.
- Franchise links to local companies.
- Contract production and linking with bulk purchasers (e.g. government, schools).
- Increase homeowner markets.
- Impose tax on pesticides based on toxicity to cover total costs of use.
- Best seller and/or hit movie to popularize biological control.
- Farmer check-off program to generate interest and funding.
- Stop dumping outlawed or banned pesticides in foreign countries.
- Study economic situations in other countries to understand how biological control can be implemented beyond the U.S. and have global impact, global markets for bc products.
Identify five of these opportunities that are novel and have potential for development in the next ten years.
- Educational Improvement - Best seller and hit movie to launch enhanced public awareness and demand for BC.
- User empowerment and increased communication with non-traditional systems to enlarge demand for bc products and technologies. "User" in this case is consumer and need is to create "pull" for biological control use from consumer as opposed to farmer (e.g., demand labeling of IPM or bc products, alternative of label to list all pesticides use in production of produce or product). Increase teaching about BC and IPM in schools to educate impressionable component of population.
- Pesticide taxes and increased incentives for development and use of BC tools.
- Expand the market for biological control technologies to "non-agricultural" uses such as home landscape, public health, etc.
- Cottage industries and production contractors (batch fermentors).
Using the opportunities as a starting point, identify the key legal issues as ramifications that will play a role, one way or the other, in the effective commercialization of biocontrol. List key obstacles and identify the most important. Who or what could resolve obstacles? (For example, consider protection of intellectual property through patents or copyrights; authorities, liabilities, regulatory issues.)
Food Quality Protection Act
- Obstacles:
- Restricts pesticide availability, creating need for alternative technology
- Corporate interference with implementation of act and development of alternatives.
- Solutions:
- Balance lobbying powers (current strength of pesticide lobby).
- Lobby through the executive branch - Capitalize on president, vice-president’s pledge to improve environment.
- Improve public education of policies and how they are made, more participation.
Efficacy Data
- Obstacles:
- Credibility is questionable when efficacy data are lacking.
- Standards are not available to compare potential options.
- Cost/time of registration is a hindrance to bc products.
- Solutions:
- Alternate registration for small companies with bc products.
- Private industry self-developed standards.
- "UL"-like value mark to designate quality products.
Agricultural Product Labeling
- Obstacles:
- Consumer acceptance.
- Health and Safety is public concern.
- Intern markets need more information / concern over agric. imports.
- Solutions:
- Consumer oversight of ag product labeling - Ralph Nader approach.
- Label indicating IPM approach: to what extent bc used/pesticides avoided.
Intellectual Property Concerns
- Obstacles:
- Limited access to technology in private hands or tied up in patent dispute/protection.
- Cost/time spent in legal considerations limits R&D progress.
- "Closed Shops" are result of intellectual property concern.
- Solutions:
- Public/private partnerships.
- Develop policy to drive intellectual property relating to organisms, strains.
Identify the key financial or business issues that will play a role, one way or the other, in the effective commercialization of biocontrol. List key obstacles and identify the three most important. Who or what could resolve obstacles? (For example, consider start-up costs, profit margin, client base, economics of scale, competition, markets.)
- Startup Capitalization
- Obstacles:
- Size of Scale-up Investment versus market niche.
- High Cost of Registration Procedure vs. return.
- Limited Potential Market.
- Natural Resistance to Entry into Risky or Unproven Market.
- Solutions:
- Recycle pesticide use taxes into R&D as well as Registration.
- Government use of biocontrol products in public applications: schools, parks, other installations.
- Subsidize users to incur a higher value and return to investors.
- Cost of Biocontrol Versus Alternatives
- Obstacles:
- No market draw for products from users.
- Entry of new products into marketplace.
- Limited industrial interest.
- Solutions:
- More control on imported goods - e.g. Pest management declaration label on imported foods to inform consumers.
- Level playing field by imposing full cost of pesticides (environmental, non-target) on users.
- Cost equalization measures at grower level to encourage use - e.g. how to compete with user incentives offered by pesticide suppliers.
Identify the key scientific and technological issues that will play a role one way or the other, in the effective commercialization of biocontrol. List key obstacles and identify the three most important. Who or what could resolve obstacles? (For example, consider available technology; employee, client and environmental safety; geographical scope of product or service.)
- Need For Multi-Disciplinary Teams to Develop BC Strategies and Solutions.
- Obstacles:
- Lack of Follow through over time as team dynamics change.
- Secrecy issues and intellectual property rights.
- Evaluation of public researchers not conducive to team play.
- Mass production capability not available to researchers.
- Formulation science not in public domain, thus a limitation to development.
- Solutions:
- University/Company partnerships fostered, rewarded - e.g. reciprocal internships.
- Grower/user partnerships with researchers.
- Government Performance Act - use to recognize, reward team contributions.
- Ecological and Environmental Impact of Biocontrol Technologies
- Obstacles:
- Perception of flora/fauna disruption.
- Program stalls resulting from uncertain ecological impacts.
- Solutions:
- Streamlined risk evaluation and improved science-based evaluation techniques.
- Evaluation of ecological impact as part of planning and funding of bc projects.
- Focus on expansion of ecological evaluation as an area of science.
Identify the key education and communication issues that will play a role one way or the other, in the effective commercialization of biocontrol. List key obstacles and identify the most important. Who or what could resolve obstacles? (For example, consider user education/market changes; user, extension, and regulation education; public relations and marketing strategies.)
- We Forget the Clients.
- Obstacles:
- We teach (and preach) ourselves about the virtues of bc, but consumer unaware.
- No Pull on bc products - no demand.
- Little public acceptance.
- Available choices are unknown to consumers.
- Solutions:
- Public Relations as a fundamental component of BC projects.
- Educate Consumers on standards for agricultural products and their impact on pest management decisions - e.g. External blemish requirements on fruit and cost to IPM.
- Educate those who establish grade standards how they impact IPM choices.
- Popularize biological control and its value as part of an IPM program.
- Engage experts in public relations to strategize on how to educate.
- Develop consortia for biocontrol in each state to foster communication.
- Consortia composed of industry, research, government, consumers.
- We Forget State and Federal Policymaker Role in Biocontrol.
- Obstacles:
- Level of education of policymakers on science issues is poor.
- As a result, uninformed and imbalanced decisions occur.
- Regulations are not in balance with relative risks.
- No mechanisms for handling non-traditional IPM technologies.
- Regulatory community evolved around, supports pesticide model.
- Solutions:
- Develop unified effort to biocontrol (education) lobbying nationwide.
- Operate at local level to increase awareness - e.g letters to editor.
- Push for collaboration of Fed/state in assessing risks of pest management components so that facts, not perceptions, are extended to public.
- Improve and simplify risk assessment procedure by regulators - push emphasis to R&D effort.
- Exploit educational opportunities at all age levels - start with young children.
- Use, exploit internet as communication, educational tool.
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