New decision support system for pollen beetle management
Cambridge, 19th March 2012
A new web-based decision support system is now online to help growers manage the threat of pollen beetle damage to oilseed rape crops.
Called proPlant, the system has undergone four years of validation in a defra-LINK project, co-funded by CRD and HGCA, to develop an integrated pest management strategy for control of pollen beetle in oilseed rape. Project leader at Rothamsted Research Dr Sam Cook says the proPlant model, widely used in Europe, is now proven for pollen beetle management under UK conditions.
“By modelling pollen beetle population dynamics it provides a more sophisticated forecast of migration risk than current advice, based on temperature alone, and has been seen to halve monitoring time and effort through the vulnerable green to yellow bud stage. This should encourage uptake by growers which in turn will lead to better targeting of insecticides.”
The model, which accurately predicts the start, peaks and progress of migration, is now freely available on Bayer CropScience’s website. Development manager Dr Richard Meredith says; “It tells you when you need to go into the field – or not – and see what’s happening on the ground. It will help time treatment accurately and in particular should give confidence not to treat too early.”
Results just released from IRAC’s 2011 monitoring of UK pollen beetle populations show another big fall in susceptibility to pyrethroids: down from 40% susceptibility to 24%. Dr Meredith says this shows that the UK has followed the trend of other mainland European countries where resistant populations are now dominant.
Bob Mills, Frontier’s technical manager concurs. “Pyrethroids have become less and less effective over the last two years and in 2011 we received reports of control failures from the south east of England, right up the eastern side of the country and into Scotland.
“Where thresholds are breached this season we’ll therefore be advising treatment with the neonicotinoid Biscaya (thiacloprid) or another non-pyrethroid. Pollen beetle can be an acute problem for a short space of time so you can’t afford to try a pyrethroid, see if it works, then take remedial action.” Crop growth stage should also be a key consideration he adds.
“More often than not, by the time thresholds are breached, you have a few flowering plants in a field that has not begun flowering in earnest. Product choice is then limited as most non-pyrethroids have a cut-off at yellow bud (GS59). Biscaya however can be used up to the end of the period when it’s economically worthwhile to treati.e. when around three quarters of the field’s plants have 20% of flowers open.”
Oilseed rape growers can access the new proPlant DSS now at
Contact:
Neil Thompson, Tel. no: 01223 226624
E-Mail:
David Evington, Tel. no: 07766 350212
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Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of EUR 6.830 billion (2010), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and traits. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of 20,700 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at:
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