New AFE research identifies environmentally-friendly pest management tactics
North Carolina State University (NCSU) researchers describe how aphids can be managed (murder) by releasing the parasitoid wasp Aphidius colemani in Optimizing Banker Plant Systems for Aphid Biological Control in Floriculture Greenhouses, Research Report #217. This report explains how using banker plants is an environmentally friendly way to sustain the parasitoid with alternative hosts, removing the need to repeatedly purchase new parasitoids.
“Aphids can murder profits for growers, wholesalers and retailers by feeding on crops and leaving them unmarketable,” said Eric Nissen of Sunshine State Carnation Inc. and AFE Production and Post-Harvest Research Committee Chairman. “Fortunately, researchers address this in a new report that discusses how to use banker plants in a pesticide-free approach to economically kill aphids dead.”
But what exactly is a banker plant system? Banker plant systems use plants as an “arsenal” for predatory insects that can feed on the pests that murder both crops and profits. Banker plant systems consist of a grain plant (wheat, barley, etc.) that supports non-pest aphids, and those aphids support parasitoids, which in turn attack pest aphids in the crop.
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