Natural Pest Control
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Using natural enemies, predators or parasites of plant pests and other wise methods of pest control
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Sustaining Farming on the Urban Fringe: Organic Farm Calls ...

Aerated Compost Tea is not to be confused with soil application composts, or un-composted mulches, which have been documented to suppress soil-borne plant diseases through a variety of mechanisms. Aerated Compost Tea is not compost ...
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Integrated Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
  1. FAO: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an ecosystem approach to crop production and protection that combines different management strategies and practices to grow healthy crops and minimize the use of pesticides.
  2. DeBugged: IPM is a term we use in the pest control industry to define a service standard that is both environmentally conscious and highly effective.
  3. Bajwa&Kogan (2002): Compendium of IPM Definitions; What is IPM and how is it defined in the Worldwide Literature? Integrated Plant Protection Center
  4. Anon: "Interesting how countries do the same job but using different terminology for the same principles of IPM. In the UK, Europe & most of Asia they use ERDM: Eradicate, Restrict, Destroy, Monitor. But in the end it boils down to professional pest control carried out in an responsible manner."


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Researchers Create Decoy Beetles to Manage The Invasive Emerald Ash Borer

Researchers Create Decoy Beetles to Manage The Invasive Emerald Ash Borer | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a beetle native to Asia which was first identified near Detroit, Michigan and Ontario in 2002. It is now a serious invasive pest of North American ash trees in the genus Fraxinus.
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The preliminary findings of pilot studies using decoy beetles to lure and trap males found that the decoys were 40% more effective than using dead female beetles to lure males. The findings of this work are due to be published in the April issue of the Journal of Bionic Engineering. The decoy beetles are relatively easy to mass produce, and have the potential to be a very useful detection and monitoring tool in the management of the invasive emerald ash borer beetle.

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Weaving livelihood through cultivating organic cotton - The Hindu

Weaving livelihood through cultivating organic cotton - The Hindu | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
TransformationThe transformation towards organic started sometime during 2007 when initially 39 farmers took to the sustainable practice. It took two more years for all the farmers to shift to organic. In 2001 American bollworm infestation was very high and even 15 sprays of toxic chemical pesticides wouldn’t help.

Tentulipada, a small village in Kalahandi district in interior Odisha, is predominantly a dry area. Known for poverty and a harsh dry climate, the tillers there could hardly lead a comfortable livelihood.

 

Till some years back the entire village was cultivating cotton. The gamble on the crop was accompanied by a baggage of external, expensive, and often toxic inputs in the form of pesticides and fertilizers. But today this entire village is into organic cultivation.

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Beekeepers sue EPA over failing to stop harmful pesticides | The Raw Story

Beekeepers sue EPA over failing to stop harmful pesticides | The Raw Story | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it

Beekeepers, conservation and food campaigners accuse Environmental Protection Agency of failing to protect the insects

 

The lawsuit accuses the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of failing to protect the insects – which pollinate three-quarters of all food crops – from nerve agents that it says should be suspended from use. Neonicotinoids, the world’s most widely used insecticides, are also facing the prospect of suspension in the European Union, after the health commissioner pledged to press on with the proposed ban despite opposition from the UK and Germany.

 

The EPA declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said in a statement: “We are working aggressively to protect bees and other pollinators from pesticide risks through regulatory, voluntary and research programmes. Specifically, the EPA is accelerating the schedule for registration review of the neonicotinoid pesticides because of uncertainties about them and their potential effects on bees.” However, even the accelerated review will not be completed before 2018.

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Country's 'plant clinics' aid farmers without chemicals

Country's 'plant clinics' aid farmers without chemicals | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
Country's 'plant clinics' aid farmers without chemicals
Chinadaily USA
China has recently introduced "plant clinics", a new way to prevent and control plant diseases and insect pests on farmland.
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China has recently introduced "plant clinics", a new way to prevent and control plant diseases and insect pests on farmland.

Nine plant clinics to date have been jointly set up by CABI, a research group in the United Kingdom that focuses on agriculture and the environment, and agricultural authorities in Beijing and South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The plant clinics already are improving harvests for farmers while seeking to build public confidence in food safety by reducing the use of agrochemicals, insiders said.

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EPA Takes Action Against Companies That Sell And Import Illegal Pesticides

EPA Takes Action Against Companies That Sell And Import Illegal Pesticides | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it

In many situations, there are non-chemical methods that will effectively control pests. The EPA recommends the use of alternative methods as part of an overall pest management strategy. The EPA recommends the use of alternative methods as part of an overall pest management strategy.

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“When stores sell illegal pesticides, the health and safety of people are put at risk,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.

Before a pesticide product is registered, the producer of the product must provide data from tests conducted according to EPA guidelines to ensure that the product will not be harmful to people’s health. The EPA examines the ingredients and the way in which the product will be used, and assesses a wide variety of potential human health and environmental effects associated with its use. Distributors and retailers are responsible for ensuring that all pesticides distributed and sold fully comply with the law. During 2011 and 2012, EPA Region 2 conducted over 250 inspections of retail outlets, and pesticide distributors and importers in New Jersey and New York, removing over 20,000 units of illegal pesticides in the process.


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Global Biodiversity Information Facility

Global Biodiversity Information Facility | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) was established by governments in 2001 to encourage free and open access to biodiversity data, via the Internet. Through a global network of countries and organizations, GBIF promotes and facilitates the mobilization, access, discovery and use of information about the occurrence of organisms over time and across the planet
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Free and open access to biodiversity data can be provided: like the digital text or multimedia data records that detail the instance of an organism – the ‘what, where, when, how and by whom’ of the organism’s occurrence and recording.

At the GBIF Secretariat, the DIGIT work area is coordinated by Dr Vishwas Chavan, Senior Programme Officer for DIGIT.

Email: vchavan@gbif.org

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The continuity of life

This PowerPoint presentation for students can be used to refresh your molecular biology knowledge, which can be used for diagnostic or best defense purposes in case of viral and subviral cell pathogens.

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Straw Bale Gardening

Straw Bale Gardening | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
Did it minimize plant disease? Again, absolutely! Nary a single sign of tomato blight! – though the long dry stretch of summer was at least partly responsible. Did straw baling control insects? Again, yes, mostly.
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Cover crops can provide a variety of benefits | Buy bokashi ...

“When you kill the cover crop in the spring before the grass starts to joint, you can recover 50 to 80 percent of the nitrogen and use it for the next corn crop,” Plumer explained. “Phosphorus will attach to the soil, and some of it will ...
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Managing Soybean Cyst Nematode for 2013 | OMAFRA Field Crop ...

Managing Soybean Cyst Nematode for 2013 | OMAFRA Field Crop ... | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
Since it was first identified in Ontario in 1988, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) has been identified in most counties west of Toronto and more recently in parts of.
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Syngenta to acquire Pasteuria Bioscience - Sacramento Bee

Syngenta to acquire Pasteuria Bioscience - Sacramento Bee | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it

Syngenta to acquire Pasteuria Bioscience Sacramento Bee.

The first product will be a seed treatment for soybean cyst nematode to be launched in the USA in 2014. Under the terms of the ...

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Pollinators, Predators and Pests - Ooooby

Pollinators, Predators and Pests - Ooooby | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
Insects perform important functions in our ecosystem. They aerate the soil, pollinate blossoms, control insect and plant pests, and decompose organic matter, thereby reintroducing nutrients into the soil.
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Your Garden Your Healthy Food

Your Garden Your Healthy Food | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
I just ordered foxgloves, strawberries, salvia and a petunia like plant from Burpee... LOVE free shipping! http://t.co/wdDmtfyrAg
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New technology for detecting pests and diseases

New technology for detecting pests and diseases | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
by Keron Bascombe, Technology4Agri Much of farm enterprise activity is spent dealing with pests and diseases which significantly lower the yield of produce.

Stress Detection Glasses

This piece of eye wear resembles a pair of ordinary shades. However in reality it takes advantage of the human eye which is sensitive to light in the green color range. Looking through these glasses, healthy plants look black, therefore for any off green caused by plant stress from disease, pests, or water will stand out as glowing red against this black. It allows early detection of a plant health issue.

Agri-related students of the University of the West Indies examine technology to identify pests and diseases at the PCS Nitrogen Model Farm. © Keron Bascombe

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Scope

The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Scope works well with the aforementioned Stress Detection tool and other early detection strategies. Once a pest or disease is detected the IPM scope allows closer inspection and digital recording of the plant’s status.  It is a digital microscope that provides a magnified image of plant disease symptoms and insect infestations. As the device is USB enabled it has the ability to e-mail information for quick identification and control measures and acts as a powerful time saving tool. The data can also be archived for future use.

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Florida A&M Student Wins Regional Award for Her Discovery in Small Hive Beetle Control

Florida A&M Student Wins Regional Award for Her Discovery in Small Hive Beetle Control | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
Florida A&M Master’s student Saundra Wheeler will receive a Friends of Southern IPM Graduate Student award on April 8 at the 17th Symposium of the Association of 1890 Research Directors in Jacksonville, FL for her work with small hive beetle control in honeybee colonies.

 

Since it was first identified in 1998, the small hive beetle (SHB) has caused over an estimated $3 million loss of honeybee colonies in Florida, and entomologists like Saundra Wheeler have been working to find ways control this invasive pest. The small hive beetle can be found throughout the United States, most recently in Hawaii. These beetles present serious threats to apiculture and ultimately to consumers, due to their high reproduction potential, ability to spread rapidly, and ability to hibernate in honey bee colonies and vector disease.

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BBSRC Feature: Using their genes against them: Fighting insect pests with genetic targeting (2013)

BBSRC Feature: Using their genes against them: Fighting insect pests with genetic targeting (2013) | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it

When you look out on a golden-yellow field of oilseed rape you might not think you're seeing a battleground, but crops including oilseed rape, wheat, potato and tomato are engaged in a constant fight with pests and disease, trying to stay one step ahead.

As the world's human population looks set to increase to nine billion people by 2050, keeping plants healthy and productive is going to be essential to making sure there is enough food to go round.Aphids damage crops by feeding on them and transmitting plant diseases. "Crop pests are emerging earlier due to global warming and new variants are arriving from other countries, bringing new plant viruses", said Dr Saskia Hogenhout from the John Innes Centre (JIC) in Norwich, an institute strategically funded by the BBSRC.

 

Among these pests whitefly and green peach aphids cause hundreds of millions of pounds of damage and loss to crops through transmitting viruses and feeding. Both species are notorious for demonstrating the ability to rapidly develop resistance to conventional pesticides, and both attack a wide variety of crops, including cabbage, lettuce, beet, oilseed rape and potato. In UK cereal crops aphids alone can cause yield losses of over 40 per cent, and insect pests are responsible for an estimated 15 per cent of all crop losses globally. Dr Hogenhout said: "The aphids and whitefly themselves are problematic but they also transmit more than half of all plant viruses. They're called the mosquitoes of plants because like mosquitoes they feed on the vascular system and they transmit quite a number of viruses."


Via Kamoun Lab @ TSL, Knapco
Knapco's curator insight, January 12, 2:57 PM

Very promissing non-chemical method to combath aphid and whitefly species in the future! Whiteflies suffer from an identity crisis, as they are not flies at all, in appearance they resemble tiny, pure white 'moths' but are in fact, closely related to sap-sucking aphids. Aphids and whiteflies can both cause severe damage to wide range of crops by sucking sap from the plant, resulting in damages of the leaves, as well as leaf loss, wilting and stunting. Not only do they feed on plants, but they also produce honeydew, which spoils the plants' appearance, attracts ants and black sooty mould. Both can also transmit different species of plant viruses, which cause further damage to crops. Until the gene silencing methods are applied, biologocial control could be used as alternative to insecticide's use.

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Natural Pest Control Options Creates Paradigm Shift

Natural Pest Control Options Creates Paradigm Shift | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
One of the first natural pest control products ever introduced into the market was Diatomaceous Earth. This is definitely one of the best pest control products if your goal is to only use non-toxic methods for dealing with your ...
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Forced Green states that diatomaceous earth can be used on a variety of pests. Slugs, ants, roaches, spiders, silverfish, fleas, beetles and bed bugs are just a few of the victims that this natural pest control method can wreak havoc on. Though diatomaceous earth is lethal to insects, it is completely harmless to humans and pets alike. The one disadvantage to this product is its nature of use, it needs to be applied virtually everywhere an insect can get into, this is about every crack and cranny around your home! Still, it has been proven to be very effective for ant control.


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Researchers still seeking to understand Colony Collapse Disorder - Mount Airy News

Researchers still seeking to understand Colony Collapse Disorder - Mount Airy News | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it

Mount Airy News (David Broyles)
Researchers still seeking to understand Colony Collapse Disorder. Much prevailing wisdom on the subject has first centered on studying the interaction of elements to the disorder's pathology, parasites and pathogens.

Knapco's insight:

Tarpy indicated the demise of the disorder by merely abolishing one group of pesticides known as neonicotinoids touted in many print articles is premature. He said data available now seems to lean towards CCD being the product of many different factors.

“It (CCD) is still a serious threat,” said Tarpy. “The problem with the single pesticide solution is there have been no reproducible results we can tie to a pesticide. As far as strictly considering CCD studies recently, they (the neonicotinoid family of pesticides) do not seem to be directly involved.”


Read more: Mount Airy News
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Pest Information Wiki

Pest Information Wiki | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it

A massive, new crop pest information open access database recently made its debut on the web. Known as the Pest Information Wiki, this broad and deep data source presents material on a variety of topics related to pests (i.e., insects), diseases, and weeds, and was organized and crafted by the Germany-based International Society for Pest Information (ISPI).

The ISPI Wiki, spearheaded and constructed by ISPI executive director B. Zelazny, currently provides access to well over 100,000 research publications and other pest related information sources, a breath-taking volume of historic information. Have an interest in the pernicious weed Mimosa pigra? A search instantaneously offers up dozens of page title or text matches; each found item displays the individual particulars such as: source, title, size, and date. Click on a chosen item and more information and further information is displayed, typically authors, abstract, source, and quite likely a link to additional sources.


Via IPMnet  NEWS   Issue #198          *         November 2012

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Pest Management Update Meeting Reminder

2012 Wisconsin Pest Management Update Meetings.

The UW-Extension Pest Management Update meetings coming up early November 2012. Presentations will include pest management information for Wisconsin field and forage crops on Weed, Pest and Disease Management.

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Master Gardeners: Seasonal benefits of cover crops

Master Gardeners: Seasonal benefits of cover crops | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it

Master Gardeners: Seasonal benefits of cover crops; Marin Independent Journal:

 

Companion planting is a related practice where one plant can either attract pollinators to another plant or reduce harmful pest populations by either deterring them directly...

To reduce erosion and compaction, cover crops can be used in the winter or the summer rather than letting a plot of soil go fallow. Cover crops can block that sunlight while also providing intense competition for some weeds, thus drastically reduce their populations. Repeated use of cover crops is an important part of an integrated pest management program to reduce or even eliminate certain weeds without the use of herbicides.

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A Protocol for Assessing Resistance to Aphelenchoides fragariae in Hosta Cultivars

A Protocol for Assessing Resistance to Aphelenchoides fragariae in Hosta Cultivars | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
Plant Disease, Volume 96, Issue 10, Page 1438-1444, October 2012.
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Sampling for soybean cyst nematode - agprofessional.com

Sampling for soybean cyst nematode - agprofessional.com | Natural Pest Control | Scoop.it
Sampling for soybean cyst nematodeagprofessional.comSoybean cyst nematode (SCN; Fig 1) continues to be the most serious disease pest of soybean in Kentucky and the U.S.
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Earthworm collects weed seeds

This is a timelapse video of the common nightcrawler earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) gathering seeds of giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida).
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Sustaining Farming on the Urban Fringe: Organic Farm Calls ...

Aerated Compost Tea is not to be confused with soil application composts, or un-composted mulches, which have been documented to suppress soil-borne plant diseases through a variety of mechanisms. Aerated Compost Tea is not compost ...
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