Stakeholders
The work will primarily target organic soft fruit growers in all countries in Europe
i.e. throughout central and northern Europe.
However, non-organic grower are often criticised for their extensive use of pesticides in soft fruit production.
Effective means for managing pest insects without use of insecticides are not available thus non-organic growers will also be interested in the outcome of this project. |
Project news
January 2013. The consortium met for the annual project meeting at East Malling Research (UK). Here we discussed the result from 2012 and made plans for the field work in 2013.
May 2013. A could and late spring has delayed the start of the field work. Finally the snow is gone (even in Norway :) and the field experiments are established. New data has already been recorded.
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Management of pest insects in organic strawberry and raspberry fields |
Background
Many European growers of organic strawberry and raspberry have large losses in yield (10 - >80%) and reduced quality of their products because of insect damage. In organic soft fruit production there are no effective control measures for many of these pest insects. This has a strong influence on the economic risk and hence the motivation for the growers to develop the organic soft fruit production.
Project objectives
The main expected outcome of this project is to develop knowledge about how to manage populations of strawberry blossom weevil, European tarnished plant bug and the raspberry beetle in organic strawberry and raspberry using semiochemical traps.
These traps will be selective for these pest insect species and developed for mass trapping. The project investigations will take place in six different countries in central and northern Europa and the outcome will be relevant for growers in the whole region.
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Main outcomes at this stage?
Main outcomes at this stage?
After two seasons with field tirals (2012 and
2013), important results have been achieved.
However, to make final conclusions the results
from the third season will need to be included.
Important mass trapping experiments will conclude
the project later in 2014.
WP 1 – Chemical analysis
- Analyses of the volatiles of raspberry and
strawberry plants confirm the presence of the
same sesquiterpenes in both type of plants;
potential insect pheromone synergists.
- Possible insect repelling volatiles were identified
in fungi infested host plants.
WP 2 – Pest insects in strawberry
- A. rubi traps, baited with a blend of aggregation
pheromones and a plant volatile, caught
weevils throughout the growing season but
the summer and autumn catches were much
higher in Norwegian than in Danish or UK
strawberry crops.
- Catches of L. rugulipennis traps baited with
sex pheromones peaked at least two months
later in Denmark and UK than in Norway,
reflecting more generations per year at lower
latitudes.
- For both species, trap catches were usually
much higher in the crop than in the boundary
vegetation.
WP 3 – Pest insects in raspberry
- Seasonal distribution of A. rubi:
- Highest catches overwintering generation:
between weevil dormancy and single
flower buds.
- Catch rates in Switzerland: peak new generation
> peak overwintering generation.
- Catch rates in Norway: peak overwintering
generation > peak new generation.
CORE organic II
- No difference between male and female catches.
- Seasonal distribution of B. tomentous:
- Highest catch rates: peak between leaves development
and single flower buds.
- In Switzerland a generation develop in one year, in Norway
it takes two years .
- Volatile combination for B. tomentosus and A. rubi:
- The most attractive combination: raspberry volatiles and
aggregation pheromone .
- Damages assessment:
Perimeter traps (traps around the field) did not protect
the crop.
- Indication of fewer damaged flowers in plots with traps
than control plot.
- More severe flower damage in plots with a high compared
to a low trap density.
WP 4 – Trap design
- For strawberry, a combined Unitrap with green cross vanes
was effective for trapping both A. rubi and L. rugulipennis.
- Increasing the height of the cross vane or having a white cross
vane significant increased the by catch especially beneficial insects
such as pollinators, ladybirds and harvestmen (Opiliones).
- L. rugulipennis were shown to walk on the cross vanes, until
tiring, before slipping into the bucket of the trap. Trap efficacy
was estimated to be around 16 %.
- Tests are currently underway to determine if fruit damage can
be reduced by mass trapping for A. rubi and L. rugulipennis
using their pheromones, a wild strawberry volatile and phenylacetaldehyde.
- Most effective position of the baited lures was at the top of
the cross vane of the bucket trap.
- A more effective trap for A. rubi in raspberry is needed. Traps
with white vanes, volatile lures and a grid attract strawberry
blossom weevils but the catch rate appears relatively low.
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Expected results
The target pests are among of the most damaging in organic strawberry and raspberry crops in Europe. Even with regular use of pyrethrum sprays, they cannot be effectively controlled to a high standard in organic cropping systems currently. These problems will be overcome. Effective, pest-specific mass trapping in strawberry and raspberry will be developed and combined into single multitraps for the target crops. The work will target organic soft fruit growers in all countries in Europe where these pests are damaging, i.e. throughout central and northern Europe.
Our institutions will host members of the project as well as associated BSc, MSc and PhD students for training stays of for 1-4 weeks focusing on ongoing research activities related to the project providing participants opportunities for capacity building in areas such as chemistry/ semiochemical , insect ecology and the interdisciplinary aspects of developing the softpest multitraps. The project group will provide their expertise for the Research School for Organic Agriculture and Food Systems (SOAR) to arrange an international PhD summer course ‘Challenges and perspectives for pest control in organic farming’ in 2012 or 2013
Growers of organic raspberry and strawberry crops currently have few options for effective control of these pests and development of semiochemical-based, non-pesticidal management techniques will make a major contribution for secure production and reduction of significant economic losses.
The work will primarily target organic soft fruit growers in all countries in Europe where these pests are damaging, i.e. throughout central and northern Europe. However, non-organic grower are often criticised for their extensive use of pesticides in soft fruit production. Effective means for managing pest insects without use of insecticides are not available thus non-organic growers will also be interested in the outcome of this project.
To identifying plant volatiles influencing pest insect behaviour chemical analysis of the host plants will be done. These identified volatiles will be tested together with pheromones for the targeting insect species in traps deployed in strawberry and raspberry fields. In parallel there will be a development of trap and lure design. In the end of the project all data will be unified in large-scale field experiments to explore the density and pattern for the most effective trap deployment. |
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Softpest multitrap
Management of strawberry blossom weevil and European tarnished plant bug in organic strawberry and raspberry using semio-chemical traps
8 partners, 6 countries
Coordinator
Coordinator: Research Director PhD Atle Wibe, Bioforsk - Organic Food and Farming Division, Norway
Partners
PhD, Prof. Jerry Cross, East Malling Research, United Kingdom
PhD, Prof. Anna-Karin Borg-Karlson, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Sweden
PhD, Prof. David R. Hall, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom
PhD, Researcher Nina Trandem, Bioforsk, Norway
PhD, Assoc. Prof. Lene Sigsgaard, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
M.Sc, Head of group Catherine Baroffio, Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil, Switzerland
Dr., Head of Group Ilze Apenite, Latvian Plant Protection Research Centre, Latvia
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