AHDB has announced the research trials for the final year of the SCEPTREplus crop protection research programme following consultation with industry.
Control options for 15 new pest and disease targets will be reviewed across a range of horticulture sectors before the £1.65m project ends in 2020. The project, which was set up to deliver new options for plant protection products for minority horticulture crops, has so far secured extensions of authorisations of minor use (EAMUs) for 13 products.
Trials in the final year will include: control options for flea beetle in brassica crops; ways to manage Mussel scale in apple and pear; mirid bug in tomatoes; macrolophus and spidermite control in hardy nursery crops, and a review of Leafhopper control for outdoor herb crops. Following the loss of thiram and metalaxyl-M, new seed treatments for different crops to control diseases such as spinach leaf spot, leek damping-off and onion neck rot will also be trialled.
Joe Martin, Crop Protection Senior Scientist at AHDB, said, “We are only testing plant protection products that we understand have a high chance of becoming available to growers following the authorisation process. Each of the products is considered with integrated control options in mind, to support a sustainable long-term future for UK horticulture crop protection.”
Photo caption: Joe Martin of AHDB
Photo source: Richard Crowhurst
