A new digital tool for aphid management in cereals aims to provide growers with a “one-stop shop” of easy to access information, helping them decide if they need to use insecticides or not.
Developed by the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR), together with HortPlus, Aphid Chat is a web-based information platform. It contains real time data which helps inform the degree of aphid risk to a crop, as well as information about beneficial insects that prey on aphids, cultural controls such as rotations and different cultivars, and chemical options and their impact on beneficials.
Chris Smith, FAR Technology Manager, describes it as a “one-stop shop for everything to do with aphids” and says the genesis for the tool was growers themselves.
“People have been saying they can’t find the information on different data sources, they wanted everything in one place. It was about bringing together the most recent and relevant information sources, so it’s all on your phone, or a website, where you can look at it instantly, rather than referring to a paper copy.
“It also considers weather data from HortPlus, the growth stage of the crop, whether growers used insecticide on their seed, and aphid monitoring data. It draws on all that information to make a recommendation on the level of pest risk to the crop.”
Aphid Chat incorporates the regional aphid monitoring data that FAR collects across a range of sites, measuring aphid and beneficial numbers on a weekly or fortnightly basis. FAR senior field officer Ben Harvey says the monitoring programme is part of FAR’s A Lighter Touch work, which aims to give growers the tools to take a more integrated pest management (IPM) approach to crop protection.
“We saw too many growers using a calendar spraying system for insecticides. Not only is it more expensive, it’s not good for biodiversity, especially the beneficial insects that are in the crop that can help manage pest insects like aphids,” Ben explains.
“Its important growers have the information to make a decision on whether they need to spray an insecticide right now, or this season at all. By providing them with this data in such an easy way through Aphid Chat, it supports them to just have a think about whether an insecticide is needed before they spray.”
Ben says the aim of having a one-stop shop, with the information growers need about the pest and beneficials, is to increase uptake of IPM. He emphasises Aphid Chat won’t tell growers whether to spray or not, that decision rests with the grower, but the tool helps inform the grower’s decision.
FAR is also using the tool to encourage growers to do their own monitoring, as well as using the data FAR provides.
“That’s always the best approach, knowing what’s going on in your crop. And with Aphid Chat, growers have more tools than they had before. The information is right there about how to go look yourself, what you’re looking at, and what you’re looking for,” Ben says.
As a new innovation, FAR describes Aphid Chat as a work in progress and welcomes grower input into suggestions for how to improve the interface or information. If the platform proves popular with growers, similar technology will be developed for other pests and diseases in other crops.
