New Study shows how to reduce pests

More ladybugs and swirling flies

The meta -study shows that flower stripes most attract the natural enemies that hunt on the plants such as ladybugs, beak dives, soft wings, swirling flies and gold eyes. This group of natural enemies eats aphids, trips, spider mites and eggs and small larvae of different pests.

However, it is not only the number of species in the strip that it depends on, it is also important to choose flower species that have the right properties:

« Flowers such as Røllike, Ox Eye, Bellis and different screen flowers are some of them suitable in flower stripes because they have open flowers with easy access to pollen and nectar, which is an advantage for predatory insects, snug wasps and single bees, » explains Nika Jachowicz.

Pollen and nectar act as a dietary supplement that the natural enemies can survive if there is a lack of prey.

In addition, Lene Sigsgaard recommends that farmers choose seed mixtures with perennial native species such as Røllike and Ox Eye:

« Resident species are those who have evolutionarily the best effect on the insects that live in Denmark. And if it is perennial species, you can have flower stripes that stand for many years, if you fit them right. Here the utility animals can overwinter and build your populations for the benefit of biodiversity and for plant production.

Makes it easier to get support

It is at a political level in the EU that we must reduce the need to spray pesticides by creating a more robust plant production with as high self -defense as possible – that is, to give the best possible conditions for natural enemies and pollinators present in the fields. And here flower stripes play a role.

« Flower stripes are one of the methods of more ecology and fewer pesticides. They probably can’t stand alone, but the smart thing about them is that they can easily be combined with other preventive measures such as crop rotation and use of biological control. And then it does not hurt that especially perennial flower stripes contribute to biodiversity in the open country, » Lene Sigsgaard points out.

In Europe, there have been national reimbursement schemes for the flower stripes since the 1990s. But the stripes can become even more widespread if it becomes simpler for farmers to apply for grants to plant them, the researchers estimate:

« We hear from farmers that it is difficult to get reimbursement for flower stripes, partly because the rules are square in terms of when to then the stripes and when to beat them. There are a lot of boxes to check off that may not quite fit the purpose of getting more natural enemies.