RICERCA ITALIANA     

ARTHROPODS MECHANICAL DISTRIBUTION IN BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF PROTECTED CULTIVATIONS

Università degli Studi di Bologna

Abstract

The target of the project is to develop mechanisation techniques that can be succesful applied on biological crops. Peculiar attention will be paid to the spreading methodologies for insects in greenhouse crops.
The schedule of these activities is the following:
- evaluation of previous experiences on this subject;
- development of two prototypes for the mechanical distribution of usefull entomophagouses;
- devices laboratory evaluation to define distribution's effects both concerning functional characteristics and living organisms behaviour after spreading
- comparison between mechanical and handmade spreading of living organisms in greenhouse crops and comparative economical evaluation of the two systems;
- adaptation of mechanical devices to different operative conditions;
- results circulation will be carried out throught articles, seminars and workshops.

Principal Investigator

Gualtiero BARALDI Università degli Studi di BOLOGNA

Research Objectives

Main target of this research is the evaluation of the mechanization use in biological control of plants phytophagouses. This is carried out throught a device for living organism spreading and the analisys of biological control on entomophagous and crop.
More in detail this research will manage with:
- development of two prototypes for the mechanical distribution of organisms based on a simple use and working times reduction compared to manual distribution;
- evaluation of the operative charcterisctics of the device concerning distribution uniformity and metering regularity;
- adaptability of the prototype to different use conditions on the basis of crops conditions, spread entomophagous and used inert materials;
- check of living organism to mechanical spreading with concern to survival, mobility, fertility and longevity;
- assessment of mechanical functionality and entomophagouses behavior in areas under control of different Research Units;
-Economical evaluation of the prototype use in a farm
- results spreading to researchers and structures involved in the greenhouse cropping.
The funds requested by any Research Units are proportional to the needs of foreseen activity, on the basis of staff availability.

First Results

Setting up and standardising of the trial methods.
Definition of the prototype project characteristics.Testing and choice of the methods for using the mechanical systems, effects of mechanical distribution on the quality of the released organisms.Effects of the mechanised release compared to the manual one on greenhouse crops, in terms of influence on the quality of the beneficial organisms distributed, efficacy of the biological control and work productivity.Adjustment of the prototype performances. Further evaluations on the mechanised release of arthropods in greenhouse crops.Presentation of the results obtained. Organisation of technical information for farmers, technicians and manufacturers with the aim of developing mechanisation in biological crop production.

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

Biological pest control is increasing nowadays because it represents one of the main tools for reducing or avoiding the use of pesticides in crop protection. The advantages of adopting the biological method are in terms of higher environmental respect, safeguard of the agricultural workers and healthiness of the productions. For many pests it now seems to be the only approach for obviating the well-known aspects of resistance to chemicals (Ward et al., 1972; Perring et al., 1983).
In particular in all solanaceous crops the infestations due to the "two spotted spider mite "Tetranychus urticae are frequent, amplified by the particular environmental conditions and the occurring of resistance to the most effective acaricides, and they have become uncontrollable by traditional chemical active ingredients, or however their continuous use does not allow the respect of the emergency norms imposed by law. The same can be asserted for other pests, such as the whiteflies Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood and Bemisia tabaci, or for aphids and thrips. Also in this latter case, relatively to the more recent introduced thrip, Frankliniella occidentalis, serious cases of resistance have been observed. The scientific research, apart from verifying new active ingredients with different mechanisms of action able to escape to these phenomena and respect the present needs of safe methods alternatives to the traditional ones, has been already oriented for some time to the possibility of >>>