Improve I.P.M. in polytunnels

New release licence for Swirski MiteŽ

A key development is a new release licence for Swirski MiteŽ, issued by DEFRA in November 2020. Until now, Swirski MiteŽ (which contains the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii) has only been licensed in England for use in glasshouses, not polythene tunnels. The new licence permits the release of Swirski MiteŽ in England, in both edible and ornamental crops grown under polythene structures.

"We have been working with DEFRA and a number of commercial strawberry growers, over the past few years, to secure the data to support the revised Swirski licence application," comments Karen Girard, Koppert UK's Registration Manager. "We would like to thank growers R&V Emery of Romsey; B. R. Brooks & Son of Faversham; and New Forest Fruit Company at Brokenhurst, for hosting our trials, and to express our gratitude to Defra for enabling us to offer this important biocontrol agent more widely."

Sandy Booth, owner and Managing Director of the New Forest Fruit Company adds: "I was happy to support the Koppert Swirski MiteŽ trials and I'm delighted to hear that the Swirski licence extension has been approved. This means we will have another biological control product in our armoury, which will help us to reduce pesticide applications, and maintain our reputation of supplying first-class fruit to our customers."

"This news is really important for strawberry growers who will benefit from the new Swirski license as soon as the 2021 season gets underway," explains Jasper Hubert, Senior Strawberry Consultant for Koppert UK. "Finally, tunnel-grown crops can be treated with a predatory mite that delivers higher levels of activity against various thrips species which pose a risk to UK tunnel crops every year. It can also provide a good defence against whitefly, a pest which has been increasing in tunnel strawberry crops in recent years."

New application technology

The second new product is Koppert's patented Natutec DriveŽ applicator which is driven between tabletops in the strawberry production tunnel. The system contains a revolving drum which dispenses the predators and carrier material into a hopper, and then via delivery tubes to the crop canopy. The application process is controlled from a touchscreen inside the tractor cab, by simply selecting the product name and the rate of application required.

David Foster, General Manager for Koppert UK, comments: "Not only do we have a new approval for Swirski MiteŽ, but we have also developed the Natutec DriveŽ, which can be used to apply the product in strawberry tunnels, with a high degree of efficiency and accuracy.

"This is a first-class piece of machinery, which exemplifies our superiority in the field of biocontrol-related innovations. As well as Swirski MiteŽ, the Natutec DriveŽ can be used to apply a number of other Koppert products and we are conducting product development studies to further increase the list of compatible products in the near future."

Source: Goedemorgen