Objective
Biological control is one of the most important alternatives to chemical crop protection and has become increasingly significant, as the European Union aims at reducing the use of pesticides according to the Sixth Environmental Action Plan. One pest that can as yet not be controlled sufficiently with the current crop protection methods is the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) and it has rapidly developed into a serious pest in Europe due to its polyphagy and its high level of resistance to the currently used insecticides. Predatory mites (Family Phytoseiidae) have a long history of success in biocontrol of herbivorous mites, thrips and other insects and they are known as predators of whiteflies but they have never been used to control this pest. In previous research several phytoseiids predators of whiteflies were evaluated in the laboratory as well as in small-scale greenhouse experiments and a suitable candidate for biological control agent for whiteflies was found, the phytoseiid species Typhodromips swirskii.
This generalist predator feeds also on pollen and reproduces on this diet, yet it prefers whiteflies as prey. Adding pollen to plants as alternative food for the predators resulted in more than 70% higher numbers of predators, compared to plants that did not receive pollen. Moreover, whitefly populations were reduced by more than 90% compared to plants without predators and thus the presence of pollen on plants had a positive effect on whitefly control. The current proposal presents the first attempt to bridge the gap between the applied research that has been done so far on whiteflies and their phytoseiid predators at the scale of a few plants and the actual implementation of this new biological control system at the scale of a commercial crop in the greenhouse.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering control systems
- humanities history and archaeology history
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2002-MOBILITY-5
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
BARCELONA
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.