Improve farmers position with reduced pesticide use: EIP-AGRI Focus Group Sustainable ways to reduce pesticides in pome and stone fruit production.

The main question of this paper is how to improve the position of farmers in the value chain by adapting alternative strategies and reducing the use of pesticides. The designed strategies can be divided into the following topics: - diversification on farm levels and labels - education and consulting - cooperation and networks - insurance and finance to reduce risks There is an imbalance between society's expectations regarding pesticide use reduction and the economic risks that fruit growers have to bear by producing with less pesticide. Fruit growers will only be able to produce with less pesticide if the risk can be compensated.