Alternative Technologies
Using natural predators:
Rotating crops to decrease weeds and insects while also increasing soil nitrogen and decreasing soil loss.
Burning infested crop residues to kill off eggs instead of tilling back into earth
Planting crops at times that conflict with pest emergence
Mixed crops: plant crops with horizontal vs vertical leaves so pests can move readily or mixed crops which appeal to limited insect tastes so not one species can grow quickly.
- Birds and other insects
- Need to set up an appropriate home for the predator - nesting habitat etc. not to common in corn fields
- If the the predator is too good, it consumes up all the pest and then migrates out- must be alternate prey.
- Need to have handy a good taxonomist who knows how to id the pest and appropriate predator.
- Bacterial predators; one of the most commonly used bacterial species is Bt or Bacillus thurigensis.
- At sporulation, the bacterium produces a spore and a protein crystal which releases powerful toxins when degraded by the gut fluids in larvae consuming it; death can occur in 30 minutes- to 3 days.
- Timing has to be right - larvae must be feeding on leaves treated with spores.Doesn't work with adults not feeding on leaves.
- They are worms that feed on everything in the soil
Rotating crops to decrease weeds and insects while also increasing soil nitrogen and decreasing soil loss.
Burning infested crop residues to kill off eggs instead of tilling back into earth
Planting crops at times that conflict with pest emergence
Mixed crops: plant crops with horizontal vs vertical leaves so pests can move readily or mixed crops which appeal to limited insect tastes so not one species can grow quickly.