Arable How aphid monitoring keeps
growers on top of BYDV • Forecasts risk of BYDV spreading • System is simple but very eff ective • Helps to reduce insecticide usage
F
armer-led aphid monitoring could help reduce the use of in- secticides to tackle barley yellow
dwarf virus (BYDV) in cereals. A simple fi eld-based monitoring system – run by farmers – could help combat BYDV following the 2019 ne- onicotinoid ban, according to the study by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). A potentially devastating disease,
BYDV can reduce yields by 30% in wheat and 75% in barley. Yields are most affected by autumn infestations of virus carrying aphids fl ying into ce- real crops.
Pyrethroid insecticides used as an alternative to neonicotinoids are tox- ic to the benefi cial insects in the crop. They also have the potential to con- taminate waterways where they are highly toxic to aquatic insects.
Monitoring method Funded by the Agriculture and Horti- culture Development Board (AHDB), the study shows that fi eld-based moni- toring to count aphid numbers can pre- dict the risk of BYDV transmitted by cereal aphids in the autumn. It also showed that better under- standing of aphid infestations im- proves both the targeting and the tim- ing of insecticide applications. This reduces spray usage because aphids are controlled before they have a chance to spread within the crop.
Researchers tested the practicali-
ty of fi eld-based monitoring by equip- ping seven farmers and agronomists with yellow sticky traps – 20cm² cards coated with wet-stick mounted hori- zontally just above the crop.
Simple approach Yellow is known to be attractive to aphids. The farmers and agrono- mists were asked to trial the traps for a month, changing them every week. They were given a simple guide to as- sess aphid numbers. John Holland, head of the GWCT’s farmland ecology unit, said: “The par- ticipants liked the simplicity of the ap- proach and would be willing to use it, but wanted better training in aphid identifi cation in future.”
Traps were deployed in the head- lands and middle of different fi elds so researchers could examine wheth- er landscape composition, boundary type and tillage methods affect aphid immigration into crops.
Determined aphids “We found at least three times as many fl ying aphids in the headland area com- pared with the fi eld centre in both stud- ies, and especially next to tall bound- aries, indicating that wind currents determined aphid immigration pat- terns within fi elds.”
The scientists found that the type of tillage had no impact on levels of aphid
It improves the targeting and timing applications
“ JH Vaudrey & Son Ltd
BYDV can reduce yields by 30% in wheat and 75% in barley.
immigration. By studying a range of landscapes, they found more aphids where there was a higher proportion of grassland with a 1km radius of the sampled fi eld. “We found considerable variation in aphid numbers between fi elds (24% had none), even on the same farm, which confi rms the merits of fi eld- based monitoring to reduce insecti- cide use.”
Grain storage and handling Steel framed buildings Groundworks All types of concrete Turnkey projects
Phone: 01379 678459 Email:
info@jhvaudrey.co.uk www.jhvaudrey.co.uk
10 ANGLIA FARMER • JULY 2021
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