How Can Orchards Use Natural Enemies Instead of Chemical Pesticides?

New project study in demonstrates how landscape-level habitat coordination transforms apple orchards through natural biological pest control

FRAMEwork's research shows how coordinated habitat management delivers measurable benefits for crop protection and farm profitability. The work uses advanced ecological modelling to demonstrate how strategic placement of woody habitats and flower strips can substantially enhance natural enemy populations that suppress crop pests, reducing reliance on chemical inputs whilst maintaining or improving productivity and net farm income. In the Basse-Durance region near Provence, nine farmers managing approximately 1,759 hectares are pioneering this landscape-level coordination, transforming traditional apple cultivation through scientifically-informed habitat management.

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Biodiversity decline and the pest control crisis

Farmland biodiversity is in severe decline across Europe, threatening both agroecosystem services and long-term food security resilience across the continent. The widespread conversion of agricultural landscapes into monocultures has dramatically reduced the availability of floral and prey resources critical to natural enemies that provide essential pest control services. This loss of natural pest regulation has forced farmers to increase chemical inputs, raising production costs and environmental risks. Farmer Clusters offer an effective pathway to landscape-level restoration and ecosystem recovery. By working together, clusters can coordinate habitat design and field management across multiple farms to create coherent ecosystems serving natural enemies throughout the growing season.

This collaborative approach recognises that pest control operates at landscape scales—natural enemies move across field boundaries and require diverse habitats to complete their life cycles.

Modelling Habitat for Natural Pest Control

FRAMEwork researchers developed landscape-level population-dynamic models for aphid-feeding hoverflies as principal natural enemies of crop pests. Testing various landscape configurations revealed that all four key habitats should be present: woody habitats provide aphid prey and floral resources, plus hibernation sites for overwintering; flower strips offer essential pollen and nectar when adjacent crops suffer aphid pressures; crops provide aphids as prey but differ in timing depending on sowing dates and crop type.

These models translate into practical action on the ground. On the Basse-Durance apple orchards, over 300 bird and bat boxes have been installed. By day, chickadees prey on codling moth larvae within tree canopies; by night, pipistrelle bats hunt adult moths—a complementary two-shift natural pest control system that significantly reduces crop damage and reliance on disappearing synthetic insecticides.

From Models to Landscape Coordination

Cypress hedgerows planted by previous generations as Mistral windbreaks now serve as wildlife corridors. Researchers tracked tagged insects moving daily between these hedgerows and tree canopies, demonstrating that landscape-level connectivity translates into active pest suppression. Management should be orchestrated at larger spatial scales, such as in farmer clusters, ensuring individual farm decisions support rather than undermine ecosystem services across the region.

Coordination requires more than good intentions. As one researcher notes, 'Time spent in conversation between researchers and farmers spreads knowledge further than any report.' Another emphasises, 'We must trial things in real orchards, in real life, at real scales.' This work grows increasingly urgent as climate change reshapes Provençal apple cultivation—rising temperatures and disappearing snowpack are disrupting dormancy cycles and expanding pest pressures from invasive species.

Explore this research and the full range of FRAMEwork publications at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2025.105875 or visit https://www.framework-biodiversity.eu/publications.