Local farmers are leaders in biological pest control
2nd November 2004
The Hall Hunter Partnership has become one of the UK’s leaders in the use of beneficial predators to manage pests that could damage its strawberry and raspberry crops.
A technical review by Biological Crop Protection Ltd (BCP), the UK’s leading supplier of beneficial insects, acclaims them as being very much at the forefront of using biological controls to minimise the use of pesticides while still producing top quality soft fruit.
Four years ago, Hall Hunter began using biological controls to manage spider mite, a damaging pest of soft fruit crops, at Heathlands Farm, Berkshire. “Chemicals were not very effective,” says Slavey Slavchev, the farm manager. “They often required repeat application and the spider mites were becoming resistant to them.”
But, after experimenting with different application methods, Hall Hunter found that a predator supplied by BCP kept the spider mites under control. “In fact, it was so successful that in some fields we didn’t see the pest at all the following year,” he says.
All of Hall Hunter’s farms now use the method to control spider mites, while a different natural predator is used to manage infestations of another pest - thrips. “This works so well that, in 2004, we only had to use a single chemical treatment,” says Slavey. The same predator is also effective at controlling a third type of mite pest that cannot be controlled by chemicals.
Hall Hunter is also using biological methods to control slugs on its organic growing sites, and is establishing field margins and banks to help boost levels of beneficial insects such as ground beetles, which are a natural predator of vine weevil and slugs.
At Tuesley Farm, six kilometres of wildlife banks and margins have been planted, along with five kilometres of hedgerows and trees including hawthorn, dogwood, blackwood, hazel, alder, field maple, buckthorn, ash, lime, beech and guelder rose. These plantings also create a favourable environment for birds.
Hall Hunter views spraying very much as a last resort, Slavey adds. “Rather than adopting a routine spraying programme, we carry out weekly crop walks to estimate disease levels before deciding whether and how much to spray. Next year, we hope to largely eliminate the need for chemicals by using a ‘soft pesticide’ from BCP that neither kills beneficial insects nor leaves a residue.”
