Successful incorporation of biological control in integrated pest management programmes requires in-depth knowledge and excellent execution. By Anna Mouton. Integrated pest management has existed since the 1950s but is only now becoming more widely implemented. “The Food and Agriculture Organization,…
Keeping your orchard pest-free. By Dane McDonald. It is the trouble every fruit grower is trying to avoid— finding a fruit-fly larva— just one hit can ruin the day, if not the entire season. “Nobody wants a maggot in their…
Researchers turn to nature for help. By Engela Duvenage. Does nature provide its own little helpers to support the South African agricultural sector in controlling its fruit fly problem? Indeed, said Dr Pia Addison, upon reflecting on four years of…
Does Oriental fruit moth mating disruption work for false codling moth? By Anna Mouton. South Africans have heard a lot about criminal families in recent years thanks to revelations of state capture and other nefarious doings. Growers will be familiar…
What growers need to know about control. By Anna Mouton. False codling moth is — you guessed it — a moth and it belongs to the family Tortricidae. Its relatives include other important agricultural pests such as codling moth, Oriental…
New crop protection projects focus on orchard ecology. By Anna Mouton. There’s an old saying that nature abhors a vacuum, and this certainly applies to orchards. Establish a block of fruit trees and other life follows: plants of one kind…
Shining light on a nocturnal pest. By Anna Mouton. Weevils — kalanders in Afrikaans — are a group of vegetarian beetles. There are nearly 100 000 species of weevils. Most live blameless lives but a few troublemakers cause problems by damaging…
Research in biological control is shaping the next agricultural revolution. By Anna Mouton. The so-called green revolution of the sixties gave the world mind-boggling advances in agriculture. Crop production boomed thanks to the development of new varieties and cultivation methods…
It takes an ecosystem to grow a tree. By Anna Mouton. We humans often describe a clean floor as one you can eat off. But a clean orchard floor starves soil organisms. Cover crops can boost diversity both above and…
The focus shifts to sustainability. By Anna Mouton. Agricultural production has grown exponentially for nearly two centuries. Outputs more than tripled in the period 1960–2015 — the achievements of the so-called Green Revolution of the 1960s are so significant that…