An international team working under the Eureka Initiative has developed the E!2971 project - Altrearmethods - to produce predator insects that offer more economic and reliable biological control than ever before.
Scientists claim the E!2971 project will enable more widespread use of biological pest control, which will promote viable organic alternatives for consumers and will have a positive financial impact on agriculture in Europe.
“Supplying natural predators of key insect pests is difficult and more expensive than pesticides,” said Dr Shimon Steinberg, product coordinator of specialist biological control company Bio-Bee in Kibbutz Sde Eliahu, in the Bet Shean Valley in Israel, which helped develop the new methods. “The problem lies in the availability of food material and a suitable environment for the predatory bugs to reproduce.”
The Altrearmethods project has developed materials and techniques which can make it much easier and cheaper to produce key insect pest predators that can also be adapted for the specific needs of many more insect pests, according to a review by EurekAlert. These developments, according to Steinberg, are of particular interest to European growers. “This means more effective, more economic control of many insect pests of major agricultural products,” he said.
The project is the result of collaboration between northern and southern European scientists. Dutch firm Koppert contributed its experience of northern European insect pests and its knowledge of technologies for coating nutrient and other liquids.
The project partners used new encapsulation technology to prepare an artificial liquid diet in the form of coated droplets, developing an effective diet for two major predatory bugs: Orius, which attacks mainly thrips, and Macrolophus, a major predator of whitefly, thrips, leaf miners and mites. This, in Steinberg’s opinion, could prove a viable alternative to costly flour-moth eggs used as food to date. The project also developed coated gel substrates, which form a suitable base for these insects to lay their eggs. “Used as a substitute for the bean pods or tobacco plants that are the bugs’ natural choice,” said Dr Steinberg. “The gel substrates avoid the problems of drying out or fungal decay, both of which make these materials rather unreliable.”
The bugs selected to test the encapsulated foods and gel substrates are key predators of insects and mites that destroy major agricultural crops. According to the review, Dr Steinberg believes there is immediate potential for market growth for Orius and Macrolophus and other predators in the Mediterranean region. “This is particularly true for Spain and Italy where biological control is already used in 75,000 hectares of glasshouses, plastic houses, tunnels and multi-span houses growing fruit and vegetables,” he said.
Participating in the Eureka Initiative has enabled the Israeli and Dutch scientists to develop novel, cost-effective techniques. Working together also gave them the freedom to exchange expertise, knowledge and intellectual property in a way that would have otherwise been impossible. Moreover, the methodologies they have tested can now be extended and adapted to other natural enemies of insect pests, concluded Steinberg.
