Visitors to Branston’s stand at Cereals came face to face with a selection of UK farmers most hated pests.

The UK’s leading supplier of potatoes marked its debut at Cereals by introducing growers to an exhibition of slugs, wireworm, PCN and nematodes and the biocontrols it has developed to combat them.

“With more than 60 slug species found in Great Britain it is important to know which ones cause the most problems. And it is important to understand them so that growers can formulate strategies to deal with them,” says Branston R&D Manager, Dr Andy Barker. “Much of the damage to potato crops is caused by keeled slugs which feed on the tubers under ground and that’s where Branston Nemaslug comes in.” Nemaslug® Xtra has been specially developed to target slugs below ground, utilising naturally occurring microscopic nematodes which actively seek out and kill slugs in the soil.

With the EU Directive 94/414, the interest in developing environmentally sensitive pest and disease control has risen considerably and is behind Branston’s efforts to develop its range of biofumigants. These ‘recuperative’ crops can be used to treat the soil, reducing the levels of pests prior to planting the main crop.

Biofumigation exploits the natural defence mechanism found in some plants that is triggered by glucosinolates being brought into contact with the enzyme myrosinase. When a crop high in glucosinolates is chopped up and incorporated into the soil, the rapid break down and release of isothiocyanates suppresses soil-borne bacteria, fungal spores, some nematodes and weed seeds.

Branston’s plot featured two such biofumigants – CureGro and FumiGro. CureGro is a very ‘hot’ blend of special mustard varieties, Brassica juncea (brown mustard) and Sinapsis alba (white mustard), which have been successfully used in high-risk situations to produce a good skin finish.

FumiGro is targeted at soils troubled by free-living nematodes and is a combination of a special variety of Eruca sativa (rocket) and Brassica juncea, with the rocket being particularly attractive to nematodes and adding other glucosinolates to the mix.

Completing the line up of natural pest controls was Branston’s Foil-sis, a trap crop for PCN that triggers hatch in the soil but prevents completion of the pest’s lifecycle.

“Foil-sis is attracting a great deal of interest at the moment, with more and more growers thinking about integrated pest management and planning ahead because of EU 94/414,” said Dr Barker. “We wanted to do something a little bit different at Cereals and help growers get a better understanding of the pests and diseases that they need to combat.”

-ENDS-

Issued on behalf of Branston by Lava. For further information contact Matt at Lava on 01522 842 800 / matt@lavapr.co.uk

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