Category: Knowledge
Date published: August 18, 2021

Creating a Cleaner Safer Berry

Nature's Best Practices

State and Federal restrictions coupled with chemical resistances have pushed the Berry industry to find safer, more cost-effective methods to care for their crops. Koppert Biological Systems offers a wide range of beneficial organisms allowing growers to capitalize on nature's innate ability to combat aggressive pests such as thrips, aphids, and spider mites. Natural pest control programs offered by Koppert provide growers the ability to produce a crop that has been treated with limited amounts of pesticides and is safe for both employees and prospective customers. Based on their extensive experience, Koppert's knowledgeable staff will work with you to determine which of their predatory products will best suit your pest control needs.

Three Pronged Approach

Phytoseilus persimilis (Spidex) has successfully been used to control spider mites in berry crops for more than twenty years. The product's aggressiveness, voracious appetite, reproductive abilities, and cost effectiveness has made Spidex an integral part of IPM programs in strawberries and raspberries.

In addition to Spidex, Amblyseius californicus (Spical) can provide a useful back-up as it is less sensitive to chemicals, tolerates a lower humidity and has the ability to feed on multiple pests such as thrips and cyclamen mite. If hotspots of spider mites occur there is a third option for control of this aggressive pest. The gall midge, Feltiella acarisuga (Spidend) has larvae that are capable of rapidly controlling concentrated spider mite colonies and stopping an outbreak of the pest before it occurs.

Aphid and thrips control is accomplished primarily through three products, Aphidius colemani (Aphipar) which controls aphids, Orius insidiosus (Thripor), and Amblyseius swirskii (Ulti-Mite Swirski), which both control thrips. All three products have consistently been proven to be effective curative treatments for these destructive pests.

Natutec_Drone_Koppert_Biological_Systems_7.JPG

Airborne technology for biological control of harmful pests

Natutec Drone

Use Natutec Drone for the effective and efficient release of a range of biological organisms in record time over large agricultural expanses. It is a unique dispersal mechanism that can carry a wide range of biological products and disperse them with great accuracy and efficacy over 8 hectares in the space of an hour. The high-tech release system was designed and developed in-house by Koppert’s Technical Department. Koppert has used its specific know-how about the mechanics needed to disperse different carrier materials, in combination with its knowledge of predatory mites and other insects, to make this advanced release system a success.