Insect Management in Estonia: stakeholder roundtable

Professor Eve Veromann Speaks at the event | © EMU

Stakeholders from across Estonia's agricultural sector recently gathered for a roundtable, "Pests and Beneficial Insects in Agriculture," hosted by the Estonian University of Life Sciences. Short on time? View key takeaways on LinkedIn.

This hybrid webinar was part of the H2020 FRAMEwork project’s knowledge exchange and stakeholder engagement event series, associated with the project's online platform Recodo, connecting people working at the frontiers of farming and biodiversity with vital resources.

Producers, policymakers and researchers came together to address one of the most pressing challenges in modern farming: how to balance productivity and biodiversity through more sustainable insect management?

Attendees ranged from researchers and farming organisations to representatives from Estonia’s Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture (REM), the Ministry of Climate (KLIM) and Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge (METK).

Setting the Scene

The roundtable was designed to enhance dialogue around several core questions:

• How can landscape elements, such as field margins, contribute to natural pest control?

• What strategies best support beneficial wildlife and ecosystem services on farmland?

• How can subsidies and policies be shaped to promote both productivity and biodiversity conservation?

• What are the realities and challenges facing Estonian farmers in implementing these approaches?

At the start of the webinar, Deputy Coordinator Alastair Simmons gave a brief introduction to Recodo and the relevant resources available there on these topics.

Why This Matters

Integrating landscape elements into agricultural management is crucial for enhancing biodiversity, promoting natural pest control, and building ecosystem resilience. However, participants acknowledged the real-world challenges: balancing productivity with conservation, bridging knowledge and implementation gaps, and weighing short-term costs against long-term benefits.

The need for supportive policy, and for public recognition of farmers' efforts, was a recurring theme.

Professor Eve Veromann from the Estonian University of Life Sciences explained the foundational principle:

"Agriculture, landscapes and agricultural ecosystems are special... Farmers can contribute to them in two ways: either through planned diversity—what all producers can do themselves by using different crops and breeds—or by helping landscape elements have flexible standards that work very well with fertilization, water operation, and water protection through inhibition of chemical leaching."

What's Working and What Needs Improvement

Estonia has made strides, with subsidies already in place to encourage ecological areas and sustainable management practices. These measures are helping to preserve habitats and landscapes, but the roundtable highlighted the need for broader adoption of diverse landscape elements—not just herbaceous field margins.

Ministry representatives highlighted current support measures:

"The main emphasis of the CAP subsidies we have in the country is the sectoral development plan for agriculture and fisheries. For biodiversity, we have requirements to preserve permanent grasslands, prohibit incineration of harvest waste, construct buffer strips along watercourses, and preserve landscape elements."

Research Insights: Natural Pest Control

Eve Veromann presented significant research findings on rapeseed pests and their natural enemies, demonstrating the vital role of landscape diversity:

"In very simple terrain landscapes, the smaller the diversity, the smaller the different chances of organisms surviving in such a landscape. The benefits of nature are important—plant pest control, environmentally friendly natural damage, pollination, reducing erosion, and more."

She highlighted a surprising discovery about parasitoids—natural enemies of crop pests:

"The average rate of parasitism of the giant beetle in Estonia can reach up to sixty percent. Parasitoid populations are regulated by the abundance of their host beetles, but when the level of parasitism consistently exceeds a certain threshold-such as two percent-it can significantly impact the host population. In areas where the parasitism rate of the giant beetle was higher than thirty-six percent, the population of these beetles was sixty percent lower in the following year."

Farmer Perspectives

Ott Läänemets offered practical insights about the challenges farmers face with landscape elements:

"We still need to do things regarding landscape elements. Many landscape elements are piles of stones, followed by piles of soil, which are pushed together. The farmer should be motivated to create more of a range in the field, but in a way that actually provides benefits."

He added that flexibility is crucial:

"The farmer must see this for himself and optimize this thing in order to find a solution... It should be the case that the farmer himself designs the landscape elements, taking into account our interest in also making production more efficient. This activity is not necessarily in conflict with environmental goals."

Another farm organization representative shared a telling example from his experience:

"Last year there was one farmer... who never used insect control as they are all natural. He absolutely hates insect repellents... The predation was very bad, all these stems were eaten. The cleverest thing to do is to put in the right approaches that help whenever you just don't have that chemical option."

Climate Change and Pest Dynamics

Silva Vilumets from the Estonian University of Life Sciences pointed out how climate change is affecting pest patterns:

"We have had significantly warmer springs and our plants are coming earlier. Snow comes down and the soft ground, especially across large areas, leads to significantly smaller winter control of pest numbers. In the last five to ten years, in terms of maintenance, the population is definitely higher than average."

Looking Ahead: Next Steps and Impacts

The roundtable concluded with a shared commitment to ongoing collaboration. A ministry representative summarized:

"It seems like we need to hold two separate meetings here. One group should focus on plant protection products, plant health, and all the related insect issues. The other group should further address what we do with landscape elements. We’ll try to bring the right people together for each discussion and work towards developing more specific proposals."

There was widespread agreement on the need for more evidence-based support and knowledge sharing between farmers, scientists, and policymakers. Participants also emphasized the importance of providing farmers with actionable data and insights for better decision-making and strengthening partnerships to drive sustainable agriculture across Estonia.

Eve Veromann noted the success of the discussion:

"I am glad that a substantive discussion has emerged. We need farmers, scientists and policymakers working together to find practical solutions."

If you're interested in topics like this check out our free webinars, which kick off with 'Transforming Agroecosystems Together' 13-15th May 2025.