A typology of crop protection strategies within organic farming and its consequences on the natural enemy community and predation rate

Organic agriculture promotes biodiversity and ecosystem services, in particular, pest control by natural enemies. This is assumed to be due to the implementation of more sustainable methods in organic agriculture. A wide range of methods do exist within organic farming with different expected impacts on biodiversity. However, in the literature, this diversity of methods has never been considered since only the classical dichotomy of organic vs. conventional agriculture was considered. In this study, we described four crop protection strategies implemented by organic apple fruit growers in southeastern France. The Ecologically intensive strategy promotes natural enemies by managing their habitat. The Substitution strategy is mainly based on organic pesticide use. The Technologically intensive strategy uses innovative technological methods such as exclusion nets. The Integrated strategy mobilizes a wide range of practices. We showed that natural enemy communities and pest predation were influenced by these strategies. The Ecologically intensive strategy had more Forficula pubescens and a higher predation rate than the other strategies. This communication provides a synthesis of: (i) the variability of pest management strategies in organic farming; and (ii) the understanding of how pest management strategies influence the natural enemy community and predation rates. This study also highlights the fact that organic farming is not a unique and homogeneous production system.