Innovative Real-time Monitoring and Pest control for Insects
Funding: LIFE+
AFZ role: partner
Total value: €3,008,627.00
Funded amount: €1,489,270.00
Contract No: LIFE13 ENV/HU/001092
Start date: 2014/06/01
End date: 2018/12/31
Abstract
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to pest control that combines the use of prevention, avoidance, monitoring and suppression strategies to maintain pest populations below economically damaging levels. IPM can also minimise pest resistance and harmful effects of pest control on human health and environmental resources.
It includes monitoring techniques, such as pest scouting, degree-day modelling and weather forecasting. These help to target suppression strategies (using precision techniques) and avoid routine preventive treatments. High-level IPM suppression systems include effective agro-chemicals and cost-effective biological and cultural controls, as well as the lowest pesticide levels needed for the cropping system.
A previous LIFE project, MEDAPHON, developed a soil biological monitoring tool for continuous, automatic remote monitoring of soil micro arthropods. The so-called EDAPHOLOGsystem is a novel, online, in-situ monitoring system consisting of opto-electronic probes, radio/internet data loggers and a central server. The EDAPHOLOG probes installed in the soil allow the remote sensoring of soil micro arthropods activities and current real-time data analysis via the EDAPHOWEB server application.
Leaders
Prof. Božena Barić, PhD
University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture
Associates
Assoc. Prof. Ivana Pajač Živković, PhD
University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture