A Wrexham strawberry farm, Bellis Brothers, is leading the charge against the nemesis of strawberry growers, Western flower thrips (WFT) and other thrips species. Three years ago, the farm suffered a devastating £25,000 loss of an entire crop due to these pests.
Even with chemical controls, farm manager Adrian Marks reveals an annual average loss of 5-10% of their outdoor-grown strawberries to thrips. "Alternative and more environmentally friendly thrips controls are therefore needed," he asserts, citing WFT's widespread insecticide resistance and similar resistance developing in onion thrips.
Bellis Brothers, with support from the Farming Connect 'Try Out Fund', is collaborating with experts from ADAS, the agricultural consultancy, to test the efficacy of Orius laevigatus, a predatory bug, in combating thrips.
A key challenge in introducing Orius into the short-flowering strawberry crops is establishing sufficient predator numbers before thrips attack during flowering. To overcome this, alyssum, a trap plant for thrips and a 'banker plant' for Orius, was planted as a companion crop, providing an early food source for the predators.
"The Orius for the trial were provided free of charge by Biobest UK Limited, a commercial biological control company," explains Ms Bennison, a research entomologist at ADAS. The hope is that as strawberries flower, the Orius will migrate and protect the fruit.
Ms Bennison highlights the advantages of Orius over predatory mites, another biological control agent. "The mite is effective against WFT which produces large numbers of larvae in strawberry flowers, but the other species of thrips that fly in as adults do not seem to produce many larvae on strawberry, so Orius is a better option as it will prey on the adults as well as larvae."
If successful, the trial could pave the way for a larger-scale project, according to Dr Gladman, also a research entomologist at ADAS.
Adrian Marks emphasises the farm's commitment to sustainable pest management. "We hope that these entomologists can work their magic so that we have proven biological controls that can be effective on outdoor-grown strawberries," he affirms.
Chris Creed, an adviser at ADAS, recommends encouraging wild predators, which can be more tolerant to pesticides, and regular crop inspections. "Either monitor the crops yourself or use an agronomist. There should be a lot of crop walking and checking and making key decisions," he advises.
Hannah Norman, Farming Connect horticulture sector officer, assures that the trial results will be shared with other growers, potentially transforming pest control practices in strawberry farming.
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