ÎÞÂ붯»­

Watch: Aphid crop protection research highlighted on BBC News

Posted Yesterday

The work of scientists at ÎÞÂ붯»­ to protect crops from a tiny pest – using sustainable pesticide-free methods – has been featured on the BBC.

It involves the use of biological controls to control pests such as aphids, which blight popular crops such as strawberries.

Populations of aphids proving to be a blight on crops can be controlled by introducing a naturally-occurring parasitic wasp near their populations.

These wasps, as part of their life cycle, will lay eggs inside an aphid. As the egg develops, it kills the aphid – offering a pesticide-free form of pest control.

Methods of biological control such as this have proved hugely successful – and have grown in importance as moves to cut chemical use on crops gather pace.

Parasitic wasps are used widely by farmers across the country already - such as Gabriel Slabbert, who grows strawberries at a commercial fruit farm near Newport.

He told the BBC’s David Gregory-Kumar how the wasps have proved useful and said: “We will be losing more and more chemicals – so that’s why we are using more biological controls.”

Gabriel uses commercially-supplied wasps, which are released near the aphid populations on his strawberry crops to tackle the aphids.  

However, there is a growing problem for farmers: it appears some aphids are beginning to evolve a resistance to commercially-grown wasps - and becoming less effective as a method of pest control.

This resistance – and ways in which the biological control industry can tackle it – is being examined by the team at Harper Adams.

PhD Researcher Laura Martinez Chavez, who leads a research project into the issue, told the BBC: “That’s basically the problem we have right now – that some populations of aphids are quite susceptible – if you release parasitic wasps, they will die, and that’s what we want.

“In other cases, we are seeing resistance, or the fact that these parasitic wasps are not efficient with those populations.”

In nature, the process of evolution follows patterns where one species will evolve a resistance – and another will evolve to overcome it.

It is hoped that, through the work being done at ÎÞÂ붯»­, guidance can be developed to help commercial companies to encourage this process through selection and other means.

It’s hoped such work will ensure that their wasps and other predators can remain effective.

Professor of Applied Entomology Tom Pope added: “Because of the work we’re doing here, some of those companies are taking that message on board and they’re already moving in that direction.

“So actually, we see that this is something we can address – and we can maintain effective biological control into the future.”