A Vancouver agri-tech company wants to give canola growers another weapon, hitting target insects at the sub-cellular level, for use in the never-ending battle against flea beetles.
Tag Archives Biological pest control
RNAi research looks for genetic-level flea beetle control
A Canadian company hopes to develop an alternative to mainstream insecticides when managing flea beetles in canola crops
Biologicals look to solve pressing issues in agriculture
Greater investment pushes toward biological solutions
When it comes to technology, potential often outweighs practical, at least until an opportunity is created for the latter. At the Ontario Agriculture Conference earlier this year, a presentation on the promise of biologicals acknowledged their potential, but called for continued verification. Although there are many products on the horizon, further research is needed to confirm their benefits.
Natural pest control still a challenge
Pest control in potatoes is caught between growing pressure to cut back on common chemical tools and concerns over chemical rotation, but do biopesticides factor into the path forward?
Potato biopesticides are still digging a niche in a sector beleaguered by chemical-resistance concerns, social pressure and the threat of regulatory crackdown on common chemistries. But their best fit might support, rather than replace, what growers are already doing in the field. The promise of biopesticides — drawn from naturally occurring substances that are unfriendly
Biocontrols often also invasive
They seem to be being unintentionally introduced the same way their prey is
Regulatory limits to the introduction of biocontrols like parasitic wasps may prove to be a moot point. They could already be being unintentionally released into Canada along with their prey. Paul Abram, of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, has been looking for native predators for the brown marmorated stink bug, a pest introduced to B.C. in
It’s a bug-eat-bug world, says Assiniboine faculty member
Researcher uses $25,000 NSERC grant to reduce pesticide use
Bugs that eat bugs fascinate Dr. Poonam Singh. The instructor and researcher at Assiniboine Community College is studying the effectiveness of using “good bugs” to control pests that injure and sometimes kill plants. Singh is the first instructor at Assiniboine to receive a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Manitoba potato growers brace for wireworm issue
The loss of Lindane then Thimet has resulted in growing and booming wireworm populations across Canada
A budding wireworm problem for Prairie potato growers is the result of losing two key chemical control products. According to Bob Vernon, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Agassiz, B.C., that lack of control options makes it a question of when, not if, the problem shows up. First the organophochlorine pesticide Lindane
App will identify bugs and outbreaks in real time
Farmers and agronomists sought for testing app that will allow reporting and tracking of insect outbreaks
Researchers at the University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are developing a new app that will make it easier for farmers to practise integrated pest management (IPM). The free, user-friendly app, which should be available in 2018, incorporates three separate tools for pest identification, forecasting and crop management. The pest ID tool is
Manitoba crop insect and disease update
Conditions as of July 14, 2015
Some localized higher populations of armyworms and grasshoppers are present. So scouting is encouraged, although in many cases populations are noticeable but not economical. Armyworms continue to be found in many cereal fields. In many fields they are noticeable but not economical, however some fields have had levels greater than the 4 or more larvae/ft2
‘Pyramid’ approach to bug control may be too optimistic
Selection for resistance to one Bt toxin often causes cross-resistance to another
University of Arizona scientists say developers of transgenic insect-resistant crops may be a bit too optimistic about their success. Since 1996, more than a cumulative total of a billion acres worldwide have been planted with crops incorporating the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin to control rootworm and other pests. Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the
Swede midge threat looms over Manitoba canola crops
A deceptively tiny bug can wreak non-stop havoc in canola
If you thought clubroot was scary, get ready for Swede midge — a voracious mosquito-like bug that can wreak havoc with your canola yields. First found in North America in 2000, and has appeared in low numbers in Manitoba in 2007 and 2013, said Julie Soroka, a Saskatoon-based entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “The
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
