Bridging private and public benefits in sustainable weed management: insights from the OPER8 European network

Abstract

The transition toward herbicide-free weed management is central to the European Green Deal and the Farm-to-Fork Strategy. Despite the availability of mature non-chemical weed management (NCWM) techniques, their uptake across European farming systems remains limited. This study examines this adoption gap by integrating economic and socio-environmental evidence from twenty NCWM case studies in seven European countries within the OPER8 network. A mixed-method framework combined cost–benefit analysis (CBA) with a qualitative traffic-light indicator capturing social and environmental co-benefits through structured stakeholder scoring. Economic data were collected through harmonized farmer questionnaires and validated in national and European workshops involving more than 160 participants. Net Present Value per hectare (NPV/ha) was used as a comparable measure of private profitability, while qualitative scores were normalized and aggregated into a composite Socio-Environmental Impact Score (0–100). These results were integrated into a Dual-Axis Sustainability Matrix, positioning each cluster of practices along private economic and public socio-environmental dimensions of value creation. Results reveal a continuum of configurations rather than a binary divide between viable and unviable options. Cover crops emerge as the clearest win–win cluster, combining positive private returns with high socio-environmental performance. Mechanical weeding is the closest to break-even among the negative-NPV clusters, while precision farming also occupies an intermediate position but remains negative in median terms. Mulching records the weakest private performance despite positive socio-environmental scores, whereas ecological management combines the highest socio-environmental performance with persistently negative private returns. Across the portfolio as a whole, socio-environmental scores remain medium to high, while positive private profitability is limited to a single cluster. Temporal asymmetry between short-term private costs and delayed public benefits emerges as a central governance challenge. Wider NCWM uptake is likely to require hybrid incentive architectures blending result-based payments, risk-sharing instruments, and cooperative or service-based support arrangements. By linking micro-level farm economics with macro-level policy design, the OPER8 framework offers a transferable tool for evaluating agro-ecological transitions and supporting performance-based governance under the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).