This Innovative Farmers Field Lab investigated defoliation as a control for cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) larval populations in oilseed rape.
It worked with eight farmers to look at the potential for controlling cabbage stem flea beetle by mowing and grazing OSR crops
The results showed that both topping and grazing successfully cut the number of larvae by 39%, but this reduction came with a yield penalty, with an average reduction of 14%.
View a write up of results on Farmers Weekly website here - https://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/crop-management/pests/osr-defoliation-tackles-flea-beetle-but-yields-suffer
View the project on Innovative Farmers website here
ADAS provides ideas, specialist knowledge and solutions to secure our food and enhance the environment. We understand food production and the challenges and opportunities faced by organisations operating in the natural environment
Innovative Farmers was established in 2012 by the Soil Association with the aim of bringing scientific rigour to on-farm trials co-designed by farmers and researchers. With a focus on sustainability and resilience, groups come together on discrete topics and on-farm trials addressing the topics that matter to them.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is based on a diversity of pest management measures (prevention, non-chemical control, best practices for optimizing pesticide efficiency, etc.). These are combined at the farm level to enable reduced reliance on pesticides, and therefore a decrease in the exposure of the environment and people to pesticides.
We deliver transformational projects to drive productivity and boost farming and supply chain businesses. We want the industry to thrive in a rapidly changing world and continue to produce high quality food, maintain our beautiful landscape and leave a legacy for generations to come.
Farm-centric research generally involves On-Farm Experimentation and may be better described as 'Farm Action Research', i.e. research conducted at least in part by and for beneficiaries who also farm.
Innovative Farmers has now been running for a decade, facilitating farmer-led research to some of
Invertebrate pests cause problems in agriculture when the level of injury they cause reaches a point where the crop yield is significantly reduced.
The Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle (CSFB) Psylliodes chrysocephala is a key pest on OSR in the UK and across the EU. They are specialist herbivores of plants in the crucifer's family.
