A biological control agent to control cabbage moth
One of the BIOCOMES objectives is to develop a biological control product for control of cabbage moth. The cabbage moth Mamestra brassicae is among the most damaging pests in cabbage production. There is not yet an efficient biocontrol product available to control cabbage moth. Our overall objective is to develop a novel parasitoid-based product to control M. brassicae in Brassica vegetable crops with the potential to control additional noctuid pests of major agricultural crops.
Why?
Brassica vegetable crops (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts) are among the most important crops worldwide. For example, white cabbage is grown on more than 3 million ha annually. In the EU, cabbage and other Brassica crops are currently produced on 183,000 ha annually, yielding an estimated 528,000 tonnes. Cabbage vegetable crops are the second vegetable crop (after tomato) and represent 7.6% of the total vegetable production area.
Telenomus sp.
Telenomus sp. has been found to efficiently parasitize eggs of the cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae) under laboratory and field conditions. Telenomus sp. parasitizes efficiently under field conditions, however, hardly anything is known about this potential biocontrol agent.
Slide share
In this slide share we will explain more about cabbage moth and our activities to find a sustainable biocontrol product to counteract it.
Author
Other news
- 03-Dec-2017 - Four years of public-private cooperation results in successful development of new biological control products
- 27-Nov-2017 - “The end of BIOCOMES marks a good start”
- 10-Oct-2017 - 'Cooperation with industry is paramount’