Habitat manipulation – as a pest management tool in vegetable and fruit cropping systems, with the focus on insects and mites

Today, there is increasing interest among Swedish growers in biological diversity within the agricultural landscape. Many scientific studies have highlighted the services performed by beneficial organisms, which can help to improve the quantity and quality of crops. One tremendously important ecosystem service is biological control of pest insects and mites. The question is what growers can actually do to increase the abundance and diversity of natural enemies and whether this will have an impact on the pest population and, more importantly, on yield and quality of the crop. Another question is whether biodiversity is always positive for growers or whether there are negative aspects that should be dealt with. These relevant questions are addressed in the present report, the aim of which is to enlarge the current knowledge base on how to improve conditions for natural enemies, so-called habitat manipulation, within annual vegetable crops and perennial apple cropping systems. However, our aim was not to conduct a complete review of all available literature, but instead to select studies that may be of particular value for advisors and growers. We also chose to include the outcomes of a workshop on increasing diversity in apple orchards and interviews with advisors and vegetable growers to investigate the attitude and state of knowledge on habitat manipulation in Sweden today. We focus on natural enemies, arthropod pests and practices applied at field scale, and therefore exclude applications developed for greenhouse crops. Our hope is that advisors and interested growers in particular will find this report relevant and rewarding

Manuel des méthodes simplifiées pour suivre la biodiversité fonctionnelle en vergers de pommiers

Ce manuel a été conçu dans le cadre du projet européen Ecoorchard financé par CORE ORGANIC. Il a été pensé pour aider les arboriculteurs à observer par eux-mêmes les dynamiques d'auxiliaires dans leur verger, en fonction de leurs pratiques culturales et de leurs aménagements. Quatre méthodes simples sont proposées. Des grilles de notation sont également incluses

Booklet of simplified methods for the monitoring of functional biodiversity in organic orchards

This booklet has been conceived in the frame of the Ecoorchard project, funded under CORE ORGANIC. It is designed to help farmers in using simple methods to assess functional biodiversity in their orchards. Four methods have been chosen : visual observation, beating, cardboards, sentinel preys. Notation grids are also integrated in order to facilitate farmers involvement

PRÆSENTATIONSHÅNDBOG MED ENKLE METODER TIL OPGØRELSE AF FUNKTIONEL BIODIVERSITET I ØKOLOGISKE FRUGTPLANTAGER

Purpose of the monitoring methods: Familiarize producers with the simplified observation of beneficials Raise the awareness of producers to the natural regulations that are occurring in their orchards Engage the adaptation of plant protection practices in order to optimize these regulations When possible, observe the effect on biological control of agroecological infrastructures implemented in the orchard over space and time The state of the art does not provide threshold values of natural enemies as decision support for immediate pest management measures as pesticide application Purpose of evaluation of monitoring techniques - Co-define the criteria that have to be met so that the methods can be used by the farmers and advisors - Refine the proposed protocols for the different methods : Determine the respective advantages and the flaws of monitoring methods and their protocols and refine the protocols accordingly - Bring out and build on the assessment of the farmers about the methods Method : Four monitoring methods have been selected by the EcoOrchard project after literature review and initial testing. Each producer in the EBIONET network is offered to choose one or more monitoring method among the four presented in this booklet and additional methods suggested by the stakeholders during the national workshops. The list with the additional methods are in the report of the workshop, the organizers should be available to provide protocols for these methods (for that purpose, it is possible to contact [put the name and contact of the national coordinator]). The producers and advisors will apply the method(s) in the orchards they work in. The purpose is to familiarize with the monitoring of the main beneficials and to evaluate how user-friendly the methods and instructions are. The method can be tested in several ways : By comparing the results of a monitoring nearby an agroecological infrastructure (AEI - e.g. a composite hedge, a flower strip, a water body, nest boxes etc) with the results of a control monitoring distant from any AEI (cf. figure below), In an orchard which is managed with an agroecological practice, like reduced mowing, In order to follow the temporal evolution of arthropods at key moments of the season, like the arrival or the peak of abundance of an insect (according to the life cycles of the aimed populations, cf. protocoles), To monitor the impact of a treatment on arthropods (observation before and after the treatment) The chosen method will be used according to a sampling plan described in the sheets below. If the methods are used to compare the presence of beneficials between two treatments (two separate zones of the same orchard or two different orchards), one being agroecological and the other being a control, it is important to make sure that the control is distant enough from any agroecological infrastructure that could confuse the result. Ideally the control should be at 50m distance of any AEI. Many factors impact the presence of insects in a plot (e.g. farming practices, landscape, variety and age of the trees), it is important to take this into account when comparing the results of monitoring that have been performed in different orchards

PRÆSENTATIONSHÅNDBOG MED ENKLE METODER TIL OPGØRELSE AF FUNKTIONEL BIODIVERSITET I ØKOLOGISKE FRUGTPLANTAGER.

A handbook for growers and advisors to assess the natural enemies in the orchard with photo illustrations and a form to use for own recording

Organic farmers’ reality to manage functional agrobiodiversity in European organic apple orchards

According to its principles and standards, organic farming particularly rely on natural processes and functional agro-biodiversity (FAB) to benefit from essential ecosystem services. However, these processes are mostly complex, hardly visible and site-specific, thereby making it difficult to assess and manage on-farm. A European survey has been carried out among organic farmers and emphasizes the variability among countries with a diversity of techniques targeting different functional groups according to farming contexts and farmers’ expectations. The different criteria used by farmers to evaluate FABtechniques efficiency and implementation potential clearly illustrate the difficulty to assess the agroecosystem as a whole

Mehrjährige Blühstreifen zur Schädlingsregulierung in Bio-Obstanlagen

Blühstreifen im Apfelanba

A review of the apple sawfly, hoplocampa testudinea (Hymenoptera tenthredinidae)

The apple sawfly (ASF), Hoplocampa testudinea Klug (Hymenoptera Tenthredinidae), attacks only one host plant, the apple tree (Malus domestica Borkh.). It is found in temperate regions of Europe as well as in Eastern North America. The flight of the ASF adults coincides with the bloom of apple trees and larvae develop in fruitlets. As the ASF spends approximately 11 months of its life cycle underground as a pre-pupa or pupa, management of the ASF is possible only during 1 month. The ASF is univoltine and has an obligatory diapause that can be extended to 2, 3 or rarely 4 years. Here key publications about the ASF have been selected for their relevance to the application of Integrated Pest Management programs. Because the ASF is dependent on living and developing tissues and because no oviposition or artificial diet is available for laboratory experimentations, research projects have to be conducted in field or semi-field conditions. The main natural mortality factors are the ichneumonid parasitoids Lathrolestes ensator (Brauns), present in Europe and introduced to Eastern Canada, and Aptesis nigrocincta (Gravenhorst) in Europe. The latter also acts as a hyperparasitoid of L. ensator. Management of the ASF can be based on monitoring adults with sticky traps and with use of a simulation model. Non-insecticidal methods that can be used deliberately in an ASF management program are reviewed, notably nematodes, entomopathogenic fungi, and physical control methods such as cellulose barriers and exclusion netting. The technical and economic reasons preventing widespread implementation of these approaches are discussed.</p

Productivist or multifunctional: An activity theory approach to the development of organic farming concepts in Sweden

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A review of the apple sawfly, hoplocampa testudinea (Hymenoptera tenthredinidae)

The apple sawfly (ASF), Hoplocampa testudinea Klug (Hymenoptera Tenthredinidae), attacks only one host plant, the apple tree (Malus domestica Borkh.). It is found in temperate regions of Europe as well as in Eastern North America. The flight of the ASF adults coincides with the bloom of apple trees and larvae develop in fruitlets. As the ASF spends approximately 11 months of its life cycle underground as a pre-pupa or pupa, management of the ASF is possible only during 1 month. The ASF is univoltine and has an obligatory diapause that can be extended to 2, 3 or rarely 4 years. Here key publications about the ASF have been selected for their relevance to the application of Integrated Pest Management programs. Because the ASF is dependent on living and developing tissues and because no oviposition or artificial diet is available for laboratory experimentations, research projects have to be conducted in field or semi-field conditions. The main natural mortality factors are the ichneumonid parasitoids Lathrolestes ensator (Brauns), present in Europe and introduced to Eastern Canada, and Aptesis nigrocincta (Gravenhorst) in Europe. The latter also acts as a hyperparasitoid of L. ensator. Management of the ASF can be based on monitoring adults with sticky traps and with use of a simulation model. Non-insecticidal methods that can be used deliberately in an ASF management program are reviewed, notably nematodes, entomopathogenic fungi, and physical control methods such as cellulose barriers and exclusion netting. The technical and economic reasons preventing widespread implementation of these approaches are discussed.</p