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Agronomy
Volume 15
Issue 10
10.3390/agronomy15102392
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

A Decision-Support Grid for Evaluating Neonicotinoid Alternatives Based on Environmental and Human Health Impact

by
Michael Raimondi
1,*,
Edelbis Dávila López
1,
Laura Peeters
2,
Wim Reybroeck
2,
Tim Belien
3,
Dany Bylemans
3,
Jeroen Buysse
4,
Benny De Cauwer
1 and
Pieter Spanoghe
1
1
Department of Plant & Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
2
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Technology and Food Science, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium
3
Zoology Department, Proefcentrum Fruitteelt Vzw (Pcfruit Vzw), Fruittuinweg 1, 3800 Sint-Truiden, Belgium
4
Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agronomy 2025, 15(10), 2392; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15102392
Submission received: 29 September 2025 / Revised: 11 October 2025 / Accepted: 14 October 2025 / Published: 15 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Pest and Disease Management)
Versions Notes

Abstract

The European Union’s goal to reduce pesticide risk, exemplified by restrictions on insecticides like neonicotinoids, necessitates a shift from single-substance risk assessment to a holistic evaluation of pest control strategies. To address this, a novel decision-support grid was developed that integrates 13 environmental, biodiversity, and human health risk indicators for multiple active substances across an entire crop season into a single Final Scenario Score (FSS), ranging from 0 to 1 (where 1 is the risk of the reference scenario). This framework was applied to three case studies in Belgium—sugar beet, apple, and pear cultivation—where neonicotinoid-based reference scenarios were compared with chemical and/or organic alternatives under low (best-case) and high (worst-case) pest pressure conditions. The results highlight the complexity of finding viable alternatives, with an FSS below 0.75 as the justification threshold. In sugar beet, only the best-case chemical alternative (FSS = 0.71) met the threshold, while worst-case chemical alternatives failed due to increased risk. For apple and pear, organic alternatives consistently showed low-risk scores (FSS 0.27–0.61) but faced important efficacy gaps against key insect. Chemical alternatives in orchards were justifiable in low-pressure scenarios (FSS 0.64–0.73) but failed under high pest pressure (FSS 0.91–0.93). This novel decision-support grid proves to be a valuable tool for guiding sustainable pest control strategies for regulators and field advisors.
Keywords: neonicotinoids; decision-support grid; risk indicators; insecticides; sugar beet; apple; pear neonicotinoids; decision-support grid; risk indicators; insecticides; sugar beet; apple; pear

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MDPI and ACS Style

Raimondi, M.; López, E.D.; Peeters, L.; Reybroeck, W.; Belien, T.; Bylemans, D.; Buysse, J.; De Cauwer, B.; Spanoghe, P. A Decision-Support Grid for Evaluating Neonicotinoid Alternatives Based on Environmental and Human Health Impact. Agronomy 2025, 15, 2392. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15102392

AMA Style

Raimondi M, López ED, Peeters L, Reybroeck W, Belien T, Bylemans D, Buysse J, De Cauwer B, Spanoghe P. A Decision-Support Grid for Evaluating Neonicotinoid Alternatives Based on Environmental and Human Health Impact. Agronomy. 2025; 15(10):2392. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15102392

Chicago/Turabian Style

Raimondi, Michael, Edelbis Dávila López, Laura Peeters, Wim Reybroeck, Tim Belien, Dany Bylemans, Jeroen Buysse, Benny De Cauwer, and Pieter Spanoghe. 2025. "A Decision-Support Grid for Evaluating Neonicotinoid Alternatives Based on Environmental and Human Health Impact" Agronomy 15, no. 10: 2392. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15102392

APA Style

Raimondi, M., López, E. D., Peeters, L., Reybroeck, W., Belien, T., Bylemans, D., Buysse, J., De Cauwer, B., & Spanoghe, P. (2025). A Decision-Support Grid for Evaluating Neonicotinoid Alternatives Based on Environmental and Human Health Impact. Agronomy, 15(10), 2392. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15102392

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