Active prophylaxis

Active Prophylaxis is defined as a series of actions, agronomic practices, and cultural combinations intentionally implemented to reduce weed, pest, and disease pressure below a harmfulness threshold. This threshold is dynamic, being higher if chemical pesticides are used later and lower if no pesticides are to be used. Strategies enabling low pest pressures through active prophylaxis can lead to a significant reduction in pesticide dependency, thus deserving public policy support.

Crop protection is a major issue for agriculture, as it has to be efficient and economically viable, with less and less pesticides, because of their withdrawal and the continuous emergence of resistance. So, thorough changes are necessary. They require long-term vision based upon a combination of common goods (biodiversity and human health) and private goods, which can only be reached thanks to a full redesign of the cropping systems and the agri-food systems. So, no possibility of quick fit! However, as visible from the list of efficient levers for active prophylaxis, there are a lot of possibilities for a gradual progress with an increasing implementation of active prophylaxis and more sustainable crop protection.

Active prophylaxis is therefore a means of prioritising practices that will initially be supported and useful in enhancing the resilience of systems. It may subsequently be made mandatory on a case-by-case basis to ensure that they are progressively implemented by all.