Camouflage confuses aphids and protects cultivation
sexta-feira, outubro 21, 2022
A new type of test is trying to protect crops around the world, in this case beetroot, using a kind of camouflage. According to the researchers, new approaches are needed because the use of these pesticides is being increasingly restricted around the world for environmental reasons.
The cultivation of camouflage involves spraying non-toxic tissues or food dyes in the field – covering soil and young plants – to reduce the color difference between bare earth and beet leaves. Aphids rely partially on this color contrast to focus on plantations. And these insects can be a devastating pest for beet growers, not because they eat the leaves, but because they transmit a group of plant pathogens called yellow viruses.
This first year's camouflage cultivation test is unlikely to give clear results because of unusual summer weather patterns, including exceptional heat and drought. But it will continue next year, says David Jones, farm manager at the Morley Agricultural Foundation, which is hosting the test for the British Beet Research Organization (BBRO).
Camouflage cultivation is part of an integrated pest management (PMI) system to protect beetroot from aphids, which BBRO is developing with the support of Defra, the UK government's food and agriculture department. The overall project is called ABCD of Aphid IPM, says its leader Alistair Wright.
"There's some evidence that this might work, but nothing really solid," Wright says. "We need to test a number of possible impediments on a scale large enough to assess their interaction with aphids and culture."
Source: Agrolink
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