Neonicotinoid Insecticide Ban May End Rapeseed Crops in the EU The EU restricted the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides on flowering plants beginning in 2013 because of a belief they were responsible for the decline in bee populations. It then banned the use of all such insecticides on all fields for the same reason despite no scientific consensus that they are causing the problem. The crop most impacted by all this has been rapeseed, a major source of food for bees and other pollinators. Neonicotinoid insecticides were the most effective method to control the cabbage stem flea beetles (CSFBs) that sharply reduce rapeseed yields. Farmers have in the past used pyrethroid insecticides to control them, but the insects have largely evolv...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.