Objective
Background and State of the Art:
Slugs are the most harmful pests in key vegetable and soft fruit crops, causing loss in quality, but despite routine repeated applications of chemicals, control in these crops is inadequate and the chemicals in current use kill non-target organisms and may result in residues in harvested produce.
Slugs are likely to increase in importance in conventional crops under the reformed CAP. Slugs are especially troublesome in organic crops where no direct methods of slug control are available. The availability of efficient methods of slug control will encourage the conversion of farms to organic production.
This project is timely because of this and the recent discovery of novel methods of slug control, including a nematode biocontrol agent, non-chemical methods and low-toxicity repellent compounds.
Objectives: To evaluate and deliver to conventional and organic growers, integrated packages of novel methods of slug control in key horticultural crops, to achieve environmentally benign control of slug damage.
The packages will involve the use of
(1) a novel nematode biocontrol agent, produced by a SME;
(2) novel cultural, mechanical and physical methods of control;
(3) novel low-toxicity feeding deterrents;
(4) novel low-chemical methods against slug eggs. Work plan:
Task 1: Produce slug-parasitic nematodes for use as biocontrol agents.
Task 2: Quantify effects of environmental conditions on nematode survival in soil and ability to kill slugs; search for warm-adapted strains suitable for use in southern Europe; develop monoclonal antibodies as novel tools to investigate nematode survival in soil.
Task 3: Field experiments in key crops in several countries to establish the principles for safe and effective use of the nematode biocontrol agent.
Task 4: Devise and assess novel crop management techniques for slug control, including mechanical, physical and cultural methods.
Task 5: Evaluate low toxicity compounds, which prevent slugs from feeding or resting on plant tissues.
Task 6: Devise and evaluate low chemical methods of killing slug eggs. Tasks 7 & 8: Devise and test integrated packages of control measures for key conventionally grown crops
(Task 7) and organically grown crops
(Task 8). industrial context: Involvement of research institutes for field vegetables and organic production, together with two SMEs will ensure that results are developed and put to practical use by growers at the earliest possible stage.
One SME already produces and markets a product containing the nematode biocontrol agent for use in private gardens in the UK. However, use of the nematode biocontrol agent will need to be integrated with other control measures for effective, economic use in commercial horticulture. The SME does not have sufficient resources to achieve this on its own. The SME will conduct further development work after the end of this competitive project.
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.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulturefruit growing
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulturevegetable growing
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Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
BS18 9AF BRISTOL
United Kingdom