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Decision Support Tools to Improve the Management of Root-Feeding Fly Pests of Vegetables

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Rosemary Collier considers the methods used to monitor and forecast the occurrence of root-feeding flies as a basis for decision-making by growers and the ways that such information can be applied.

Image courtesy of interviewee. April 24, 2024

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This video video summarizes a review paper resulting from a collaborative European Union project focused on controlling root-feeding fly pests that damage vegetable crops. The paper emphasizes integrated pest management (IPM), which promotes using various control methods to minimize or eliminate reliance on insecticides and fungicides. Key strategies include monitoring pest activity through traps and developing forecasting systems based on temperature to predict pest outbreaks.

The review discusses the impacts of climate change on pest behavior and distribution, noting that increasing temperatures may affect the phenology of species like the carrot fly, potentially shifting their geographic ranges. It highlights the benefits of decision support tools for farmers, such as improving treatment targeting, reducing unnecessary treatments, and ultimately benefiting the environment.

The paper also notes the practical application of these tools by farmers and highlights ongoing developments in forecasting systems that aim to enhance monitoring for specific pests. Overall, it outlines the significance of using integrated pest management strategies and decision support tools to improve pest control practices in European agriculture.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.075 --> 00:04.045
This paper, which was a review paper, was, one

00:04.045 --> 00:07.525
of the outcomes of a, a collaborative,

00:08.005 --> 00:09.325
European Union project.

00:09.625 --> 00:11.485
So involved a number of,

00:11.705 --> 00:14.605
of partners from different European countries.

00:15.265 --> 00:20.005
And our, our focus, was,

00:20.365 --> 00:23.005
a number of species of fly

00:23.675 --> 00:25.525
that attack vegetable crops.

00:26.435 --> 00:28.415
And all of those species, some

00:28.415 --> 00:30.295
of them are quite closely related to each other.

00:31.035 --> 00:33.855
Um, but all of those species, the way

00:33.855 --> 00:36.895
that they cause damage to vegetable crops is

00:36.895 --> 00:41.255
through their larvae, which generally feed on the roots

00:41.315 --> 00:42.535
of the vegetable crops,

00:42.535 --> 00:45.895
which is why we call them root feeding fly pests.

00:46.245 --> 00:48.975
Some of the pests will also sometimes feed on the,

00:49.115 --> 00:50.535
the foliage as well.

00:51.995 --> 00:56.295
And we were focusing on

00:57.695 --> 01:01.235
all of the approaches that you might use to control these

01:01.815 --> 01:03.275
fly pests,

01:03.455 --> 01:07.435
but particularly looking at approaches that you might use

01:07.975 --> 01:11.875
either, to completely avoid the use of insecticides

01:11.895 --> 01:15.275
or to reduce the use of fungicides.

01:16.175 --> 01:20.875
And so the approach that, that we have been aiming for is

01:20.905 --> 01:24.155
what people call integrated pest management, which is a,

01:24.155 --> 01:28.315
quite a well known term, which means

01:28.315 --> 01:31.235
what I've just said, that, that when you are considering how

01:31.235 --> 01:33.755
to manage a pest or, or a disease or,

01:33.895 --> 01:37.795
or even weeds, you think about all the tools

01:37.795 --> 01:42.155
that are available to you, together with insecticides.

01:42.175 --> 01:46.355
And as far as possible, you try to manage that pest,

01:46.815 --> 01:48.235
by using those other tools

01:49.095 --> 01:52.675
and then using insecticides if absolutely necessary.

01:53.795 --> 01:56.055
Our focus, as I've said, was,

01:56.235 --> 01:58.015
was integrated pest management.

01:58.855 --> 02:02.495
A key, component of integrative pest management is

02:02.495 --> 02:07.215
that you actually make yourself aware of when the pests

02:07.215 --> 02:09.175
that you, you are interested in are active

02:09.835 --> 02:13.095
and how many of them are active so that you can actually,

02:13.755 --> 02:17.695
target your, your management, your, the, the treatments

02:17.695 --> 02:18.735
that you might apply.

02:19.635 --> 02:22.775
Um, and so the basically two approaches

02:22.775 --> 02:24.975
that we were thinking about, one is when you,

02:25.115 --> 02:26.495
you are monitoring the pests,

02:26.875 --> 02:29.655
so you are actually following their numbers,

02:29.865 --> 02:31.535
their activity in real time.

02:32.555 --> 02:34.775
And generally with the, the species

02:35.165 --> 02:38.375
that we were focusing on, we would do that

02:38.525 --> 02:43.015
through trapping adult insects in crops.

02:43.715 --> 02:48.095
So we would be generally attracting the insects,

02:48.115 --> 02:50.855
the traps using, using the color of the trap.

02:51.035 --> 02:55.255
So, each of the species we, we looked at had a sort

02:55.255 --> 02:56.255
of preferred color range.

02:56.315 --> 02:58.655
So you would use traps of that color.

02:59.265 --> 03:01.325
Um, you would actually capture them either

03:01.545 --> 03:05.445
by drowning them in dishes of water, so colored dishes

03:05.545 --> 03:09.845
of water or by capturing them on, on sticky traps.

03:10.545 --> 03:14.205
Um, in the case of, a couple of species,

03:14.545 --> 03:18.445
you might also monitor them by sampling for eggs.

03:18.545 --> 03:22.605
So all of those species lay their eggs on the soil

03:23.675 --> 03:25.545
close to the base of the, the plants

03:25.545 --> 03:27.145
that they're going to infest.

03:27.285 --> 03:30.225
So you would actually take samples of soil from

03:30.225 --> 03:32.065
around the bottom of the plants,

03:32.065 --> 03:33.945
and then float out the eggs in water

03:34.765 --> 03:37.585
and count them aside from monitoring.

03:37.605 --> 03:39.905
So as I said, monitoring is in real time,

03:40.605 --> 03:42.705
so you are following pest activities.

03:42.705 --> 03:46.025
It happens, it, it's very useful though for farmers

03:46.125 --> 03:48.985
and growers to have some idea of when

03:49.795 --> 03:51.305
large numbers of pests are going to arrive.

03:52.165 --> 03:56.905
So a number of us involved in this collaborative project,

03:57.565 --> 04:02.505
we have developed, forecasting systems

04:02.685 --> 04:04.425
for particular pest insects,

04:05.005 --> 04:07.465
and they generally use temperature

04:07.465 --> 04:10.305
because temperature determines the rate at which

04:10.375 --> 04:11.665
most insects develop.

04:12.405 --> 04:16.105
So they're basically, weather based forecasts

04:16.105 --> 04:19.665
that use temperature to predict when large numbers

04:19.665 --> 04:22.945
of the pests are likely to arrive in crops.

04:23.765 --> 04:25.705
So both monitoring

04:25.805 --> 04:29.025
and forecasting information can be used to

04:29.765 --> 04:32.225
inform decision support.

04:33.325 --> 04:36.865
Um, and by decision support we mean that,

04:37.765 --> 04:39.945
we make this information or, or,

04:40.005 --> 04:42.145
or growers collect this information through,

04:42.145 --> 04:43.305
through monitoring and

04:43.305 --> 04:45.825
through forecasts about pest activity.

04:46.485 --> 04:49.905
And that then enables them,

04:50.685 --> 04:53.705
to improve the decisions they make about when

04:54.285 --> 04:56.465
and whether they apply certain,

04:56.735 --> 04:59.705
certain treatments which might be insecticides

04:59.885 --> 05:02.985
or might be other ways of managing the pest insects,

05:03.455 --> 05:06.865
climate change, at least in the, the areas that,

05:06.935 --> 05:08.265
that we are working in.

05:08.365 --> 05:12.625
So, so basically Northern Europe, the impact

05:12.765 --> 05:17.185
of climate change, one impact is, will be to increase,

05:17.735 --> 05:19.745
average, average temperatures.

05:20.445 --> 05:23.025
Um, obviously there are other impacts as well in terms of,

05:23.205 --> 05:26.905
of rainfall, the distribution of rainfall likely to,

05:27.565 --> 05:31.625
to change, and also the occurrence extreme events.

05:31.765 --> 05:35.785
But in terms of the pest insects that, that we considered

05:36.415 --> 05:38.745
changes in temperature are probably going

05:38.745 --> 05:42.425
to be most important in terms of their phenology.

05:43.245 --> 05:47.025
Um, so the timing of their life cycle in different years

05:47.805 --> 05:50.265
and also their geographic distribution.

05:51.085 --> 05:55.065
And, and really the, the impacts depend on the,

05:55.445 --> 05:57.525
on the species and

05:58.095 --> 06:00.805
where they are currently distri distributed,

06:01.545 --> 06:02.965
it's quite likely.

06:03.225 --> 06:06.365
So one of the species that we looked at was the carrot fly,

06:06.865 --> 06:10.775
which, does what the name suggests

06:10.875 --> 06:12.575
and attacks carrot crops

06:13.115 --> 06:17.455
and that that insect, does not,

06:17.915 --> 06:20.055
do well in very high temperatures.

06:20.715 --> 06:23.055
Um, so when temperatures are high in the middle

06:23.055 --> 06:24.295
of the summer,

06:24.295 --> 06:27.735
particularly the egg stage is very susceptible to,

06:27.835 --> 06:29.575
to desiccation and high temperatures.

06:30.075 --> 06:34.615
So I can see that in future maybe the,

06:34.755 --> 06:35.815
the distribution

06:35.815 --> 06:38.975
of the carrot fly will gradually move Northwoods

06:38.975 --> 06:42.335
because it won't, won't be able to do so well in the,

06:42.435 --> 06:47.415
the warmer parts of its of its current range, at least

06:47.955 --> 06:52.175
two, maybe more of the species can also what we call east

06:52.195 --> 06:55.935
of eight, which means that when it's very hot

06:56.515 --> 07:00.935
in the summer, they can actually do the sort

07:00.935 --> 07:02.295
of the reverse of hibernation,

07:02.395 --> 07:05.455
so they can actually become dormant for a while,

07:05.585 --> 07:06.855
until temperatures go down again.

07:06.855 --> 07:09.575
So that will also affect their phenology,

07:09.575 --> 07:13.055
because you might get a period in the summer where

07:13.835 --> 07:15.095
the flies are inactive

07:15.365 --> 07:19.655
because they're, they're tating in the pupil stage,

07:19.955 --> 07:22.895
and then once it cools down at the end of the summer,

07:22.955 --> 07:26.295
you'll get another, burst of, of activity.

07:27.025 --> 07:31.735
There are two major benefits from,

07:31.875 --> 07:33.655
the use of decision support tools.

07:34.155 --> 07:38.675
Um, I guess both are are benefits for, for the farmers,

07:39.015 --> 07:43.915
but but also for wider for the public and, and,

07:44.255 --> 07:45.475
and citizens in general.

07:45.895 --> 07:49.235
Um, the first thing is that that decisions support

07:50.065 --> 07:53.555
enables control methods to be targeted effectively.

07:54.215 --> 07:58.315
Um, so from an economic point of view, hopefully farmers

07:58.415 --> 08:02.115
and growers are getting the best value outta the treatments

08:02.115 --> 08:03.595
that they, they do apply.

08:04.455 --> 08:07.875
Um, also if you target treatments

08:07.895 --> 08:10.195
and if you know when to apply them, then

08:10.225 --> 08:12.115
that will probably reduce the number

08:12.215 --> 08:15.995
of unnecessary treatments that are applied,

08:16.085 --> 08:17.875
which also has an impact on costs.

08:18.015 --> 08:21.315
And obviously if those treatments are insecticides,

08:21.815 --> 08:24.795
if you can reduce the number of insecticidal treatments,

08:24.795 --> 08:28.475
then that's a great benefit, for the environment.

08:29.025 --> 08:32.555
This paper was a review of all the,

08:33.375 --> 08:35.115
the decision support tools

08:35.215 --> 08:39.835
and their potential, to improve management of these,

08:40.295 --> 08:42.715
fly pests in vegetables in, in Europe.

08:43.935 --> 08:47.605
And, in fact, quite a few of them are

08:48.195 --> 08:51.845
already used regularly by farmers and and growers.

08:51.905 --> 08:55.365
So they are already having impact through their,

08:55.515 --> 08:59.045
through their practical and, commercial use.

09:00.085 --> 09:04.045
Actually since the, the, the paper was written,

09:04.535 --> 09:06.405
there have been further developments.

09:06.665 --> 09:11.585
So, in, in the UK we've been working on,

09:12.255 --> 09:14.465
another forecasting system

09:14.685 --> 09:16.825
and improve monitoring for one of the species,

09:16.825 --> 09:18.065
which is the bean seed fly.

09:18.645 --> 09:23.585
Um, so that is beginning to have an impact in terms

09:23.645 --> 09:26.505
of protecting the crops that, that, that species,

09:27.045 --> 09:28.065
affects.

09:28.885 --> 09:33.265
And we're also, I think has pointed out in the paper some

09:33.265 --> 09:35.665
of the software that, in which some

09:35.665 --> 09:38.625
of the forecasting systems have been developed is, is sort

09:38.625 --> 09:40.265
of getting heading old.

09:40.405 --> 09:45.025
So actually, for some of these, forecasts,

09:45.025 --> 09:47.905
there has been a recent European project on, on

09:48.705 --> 09:52.865
decision support systems and we've been able to incorporate,

09:53.405 --> 09:57.705
the UK versions of those models into this new software,

09:57.715 --> 10:00.185
which is available to, well, anybody in the world.

10:00.645 --> 10:03.425
Um, basically. Um, so yeah,

10:03.605 --> 10:05.305
so there's been impact in the past

10:05.405 --> 10:07.985
and I think there will be impact in the future.

00:00 - This paper, which was a review paper, was, one of the outcomes of a, a collaborative, European Union project. So involved a number of, of partners from different European countries. And our, our focus, was,

00:20 - a number of species of fly that attack vegetable crops. And all of those species, some of them are quite closely related to each other. but all of those species, the way that they cause damage to vegetable crops is through their larvae, which generally feed on the roots of the vegetable crops, which is why we call them root feeding fly pests. Some of the pests will also sometimes feed on the,

00:49 - the foliage as well. And we were focusing on all of the approaches that you might use to control these fly pests, but particularly looking at approaches that you might use either, to completely avoid the use of insecticides or to reduce the use of fungicides. And so the approach that, that we have been aiming for is what people call integrated pest management, which is a, quite a well known term, which means

01:28 - what I've just said, that, that when you are considering how to manage a pest or, or a disease or, or even weeds, you think about all the tools that are available to you, together with insecticides. And as far as possible, you try to manage that pest, by using those other tools and then using insecticides if absolutely necessary. Our focus, as I've said, was, was integrated pest management. A key, component of integrative pest management is

02:02 - that you actually make yourself aware of when the pests that you, you are interested in are active and how many of them are active so that you can actually, target your, your management, your, the, the treatments that you might apply. and so the basically two approaches that we were thinking about, one is when you, you are monitoring the pests, so you are actually following their numbers, their activity in real time.

02:32 - And generally with the, the species that we were focusing on, we would do that through trapping adult insects in crops. So we would be generally attracting the insects, the traps using, using the color of the trap. So, each of the species we, we looked at had a sort of preferred color range. So you would use traps of that color. you would actually capture them either by drowning them in dishes of water, so colored dishes

03:05 - of water or by capturing them on, on sticky traps. in the case of, a couple of species, you might also monitor them by sampling for eggs. So all of those species lay their eggs on the soil close to the base of the, the plants that they're going to infest. So you would actually take samples of soil from around the bottom of the plants, and then float out the eggs in water and count them aside from monitoring.

03:37 - So as I said, monitoring is in real time, so you are following pest activities. It happens, it, it's very useful though for farmers and growers to have some idea of when large numbers of pests are going to arrive. So a number of us involved in this collaborative project, we have developed, forecasting systems for particular pest insects, and they generally use temperature because temperature determines the rate at which

04:10 - most insects develop. So they're basically, weather based forecasts that use temperature to predict when large numbers of the pests are likely to arrive in crops. So both monitoring and forecasting information can be used to inform decision support. and by decision support we mean that, we make this information or, or, or growers collect this information through,

04:42 - through monitoring and through forecasts about pest activity. And that then enables them, to improve the decisions they make about when and whether they apply certain, certain treatments which might be insecticides or might be other ways of managing the pest insects, climate change, at least in the, the areas that, that we are working in. So, so basically Northern Europe, the impact

05:12 - of climate change, one impact is, will be to increase, average, average temperatures. obviously there are other impacts as well in terms of, of rainfall, the distribution of rainfall likely to, to change, and also the occurrence extreme events. But in terms of the pest insects that, that we considered changes in temperature are probably going to be most important in terms of their phenology. so the timing of their life cycle in different years and also their geographic distribution.

05:51 - And, and really the, the impacts depend on the, on the species and where they are currently distri distributed, it's quite likely. So one of the species that we looked at was the carrot fly, which, does what the name suggests and attacks carrot crops and that that insect, does not, do well in very high temperatures. so when temperatures are high in the middle

06:23 - of the summer, particularly the egg stage is very susceptible to, to desiccation and high temperatures. So I can see that in future maybe the, the distribution of the carrot fly will gradually move Northwoods because it won't, won't be able to do so well in the, the warmer parts of its of its current range, at least two, maybe more of the species can also what we call east of eight, which means that when it's very hot

06:56 - in the summer, they can actually do the sort of the reverse of hibernation, so they can actually become dormant for a while, until temperatures go down again. So that will also affect their phenology, because you might get a period in the summer where the flies are inactive because they're, they're tating in the pupil stage, and then once it cools down at the end of the summer, you'll get another, burst of, of activity.

07:27 - There are two major benefits from, the use of decision support tools. I guess both are are benefits for, for the farmers, but but also for wider for the public and, and, and citizens in general. the first thing is that that decisions support enables control methods to be targeted effectively. so from an economic point of view, hopefully farmers and growers are getting the best value outta the treatments that they, they do apply.

08:04 - also if you target treatments and if you know when to apply them, then that will probably reduce the number of unnecessary treatments that are applied, which also has an impact on costs. And obviously if those treatments are insecticides, if you can reduce the number of insecticidal treatments, then that's a great benefit, for the environment. This paper was a review of all the, the decision support tools

08:35 - and their potential, to improve management of these, fly pests in vegetables in, in Europe. And, in fact, quite a few of them are already used regularly by farmers and and growers. So they are already having impact through their, through their practical and, commercial use. Actually since the, the, the paper was written, there have been further developments. So, in, in the UK we've been working on, another forecasting system

09:14 - and improve monitoring for one of the species, which is the bean seed fly. so that is beginning to have an impact in terms of protecting the crops that, that, that species, affects. And we're also, I think has pointed out in the paper some of the software that, in which some of the forecasting systems have been developed is, is sort of getting heading old. So actually, for some of these, forecasts,

09:45 - there has been a recent European project on, on decision support systems and we've been able to incorporate, the UK versions of those models into this new software, which is available to, well, anybody in the world. basically. so yeah, so there's been impact in the past and I think there will be impact in the future.

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