Abstract

1. Reliably predicting pest damage would allow farmers to reduce insecticide use without incurring economic losses and thus contribute to agricultural sustainability. However, means to predict pest severity are lacking.2. We assessed whether crop feeding injury caused by flea beetles in spring oilseed rape can be predicted from flea beetle pest densities in the previous season using 22 years of suction trap catches of flea beetles in combination with crop feeding injury data from 293 fields.3. We found a strong positive relationship between the densities of flea beetles of the genus Phyllotreta in the summer and autumn activity period of the previous year and crop feeding injury caused by flea beetles in spring oilseed rape the following year. Autumn weather or the total cover of spring oilseed rape in the study region did not improve the prediction further.4. Pest monitoring using suction traps is thus a promising tool to predict crop feeding injury and can reduce insecticide use in years with low pest pressures.

Keywords

agriculture; Brassica napus; crop damage prediction; flea beetle; legacy effect; neonicotinoid ban; pest management; Phyllotreta

Published in

Agricultural and Forest Entomology
2024, Volume: 26, number: 1, pages: 62-69
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Bötzl, Fabian

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Högfeldt, Carol

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Malsher, Gerard

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Jonsson, Mattias

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Ninkovic, Velemir

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Sigvald, Roland

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Lundin, Ola

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network


Sustainable Development Goals

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture


UKÄ Subject classification

Zoology
Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12596

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/123784