Natural Cockchafer Control: New Machine for Steep Sites
On steep sites it is difficult to inject the soil with a useful fungus that kills off harmful cockchafer larvae. A motor mower equipped with spiked-tooth rollers and steered by remote control makes it possible to treat the meadows that are at risk.
The mass reproduction of cockchafers regularly leads to problems in meadows and pastures. This is because the grubs living in the soil need three years to change into adults capable of flight. During this time they feed on the roots of grasses and meadow plants, causing enormous damage to the agricultural landscape. With climate change, the grubs are surviving at ever-higher altitudes, and are increasingly infesting steep slopes.
Cockchafer grubs are biologically controlled with a fungus usually injected into the soil with heavy sowing machinery. This environmentally friendly method for controlling grubs was developed by Agroscope.
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Grub control using entomopathogenic fungi
Entomopathogene Pilze sind Pilze, die Insekten parasitieren und diese abtöten oder stark beeinträchtigen. Engerlinge werden von entomopathogenen Pilzen befallen, die im Labor gezüchtet werden können. Damit lassen sie sich effizient biologisch bekämpfen.
WhatsApp channel for practitioners
Aimed at agricultural practitioners, the information is shared on our WhatsApp channels 'Agroscope_fr' (French) and 'Agroscope_de' (German).