Biological control specialist Exosect is advising growers to review their spraying regimes urgently in response to increasingly unseasonable weather. The follows the unexpected, record-breaking rainfall throughout the summer and the company is recommending a more integrated approach to pest management practices.

“Rain and wind interferes with spray timing and this can have a significant impact on success when targeting a particular stage in the pest life cycle,” said Exosect marketing manager Richard Dyason. “A successful spray application relies on a dry crop and can take between two and 12 hours to dry fully . Rain before, during or immediately after spraying can render the treatment ineffective. Another effect of such weather conditions can be spray drift, with the knock-on effect of contaminating waterways and gardens.

“Sadly many growers in regions of the UK have lost their entire season’s crop to flooding. For those who did not, the battle to protect and nurture their crop continues. Traditional pesticide spraying techniques rely heavily on anticipating spells of dry weather and the unpredictability of the weather we have experienced this season suggests this will become an ongoing concern.”

Exosect recommends its range of Exosex Active mating disruption products that do not saturate the crop with pheromone or pesticide. They use the insect pest itself to distribute a natural pheromone impregnated with Exosect’s patented Entostat - a natural plant-based wax powder - that adheres to the insect pest on contact and promotes an auto-confusion effect throughout its own population that halts the mating cycle before the pest can lay eggs.

Exosect is also involved in a Defra sponsored project with IPARC, Dow AgroSciences and Micron Sprayers, regarding the commercial development of novel spray technology that uses charged powders to enhance adherence to both foliage and the target pest. The benefits of this technology will include improved overall efficacy, reduction in spray drift and pesticide application rates as well as lengthening required spray intervals.

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