Description: Thrips is a major pest problem in field production of leek, onion and strawberry. Growers are spraying chemicals as soon as the first thrips is monitored. Handles for a more integrated attack of this pest are lacking. The aim of this project is to realise a strong reduction in the use of insecticides by integration of measures for limitating thrips attack.
Research objectives: Improvement of the apprehension in population dynamics of harmful thrips species is required to limit the number of sprayings and to determine a damage threshold. Insight in the influence of landscape factors (vegetation) and field borders (flora and fauna) on population dynamics can lead to more insight in the strong fluctuations in thrips populations over different field plots. In this respect attracting and stimulating of the presence of predators is important. Improvement of a decision support system, taking into account the harmful thrips species and the influence of environmental factors, can predict thrips pressure more adequate. Application of the attractant Lurem-TR can increase the effectivity of the insecticidal sprayings (with chemical or biological agents). These aspects will be inventoried during the successive project years, performed and tested in fieldexperiments on different locations.
Results and products: This research project enhance the knowledge about the following aspects: 1. The harmfulness and population dynamics of different thrips species in strawberry, onion and leek. 2. Insight in the part of environmental factors on population dynamics is increased and by an adapted decision support system, thrips pressure is predicted more adequately. 3. Application of the attractant Lurem-TR can possibly increase the effectiveness of the insecticidal sprayings. 4. Together with stimulating of the presence of predators, by flora in field borders or application of compost containing soil-dwelling predatory mites, a combination of measures will lead to a strong improved integrated thrips management. 5. Application of the system of integrated thrips control in combination with a damage threshold will lead to a significant reduction of the use of insecticides. 6. Directives for the best practises will be communicated to the involved groups of growers |