Strawberry farmers using billions of predatory mites to toxic insecticides

Added on 01 May 2024

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Strawberry farmers using billions of predatory mites to toxic insecticides

James Hill oversees the breeding of billions of Phytoseiulus persimilis bugs. (Supplied: Bugs for Bugs)

As concern over chemical use in food production grows and insect species become more resistant to poisons, farmers are turning to nature for solutions to pests that can cripple crop production.

Billions of tiny, blind, predatory mites are being bred, harvested, packed on ice, and posted to strawberry farms in the battle against destructive sap-sucking insects.