Olfert: Development of Reduced-Risk Strategies through Coordinated Monitoring, Forecasting, and Risk Warning Systems for Insect Pests of Field Crops
Date: October 2012
Term: 5 years
Status: Completed
Researcher(s): Owen Olfert, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Saskatoon SK. Jennifer Otani, AAFC Beaverodge AB, Bob Elliott, Julie Soroka, Chrystel Olivier, AAFC Saskatoon, Héctor Carcámo, AAFC Lethbridge AB, Peter Mason, AAFC Ottawa, ON, Lloyd Dosdall, University of Alberta, Scott Meers, Alberta Agriculture, Scott Hartley, Saskatchewan Agriculture, John Gavloski, Manitoba Agriculture, Serge Trudel, Environment Canada
SaskCanola Investment: n/a
Total Project Cost: n/a
Funding Partners: n/a
Project Summary
Researchers from across western Canada initiated a five-year project in 2007 to study key insect pest species across the Prairie Ecosystem, as well as monitor potential new invasive species and their natural enemies. As a result of the project a prairie-wide, coordinated insect monitoring program was established. The program, which included weekly pest and crop updates, forecasts and risk maps, was designed to keep the agriculture industry informed of the risks to crop production from pest species and help with decision-making, as well as to highlight/conserve their natural enemies.
Long-term surveys of insect populations are important for providing a general overview of pest and natural enemy population trends over time. Researchers together with other industry collaborators from across western Canada initiated a five-year project in 2007 to study key insect pest species across the Prairie Ecosystem, including bertha armyworm, diamondback moth, cabbage seedpod weevil, wheat midge, grasshoppers, pea leaf weevil, and wheat stem sawfly. Additional pest species were monitored annually including leafhoppers, cereal leaf beetle and cutworms.
The project included a network of approximately 5000 insect pest monitoring sites across western Canada. These sites used various types of insect traps (e.g. pheromone or sticky traps), specific to the key pest species targeted in the study. Insect monitoring teams were established in respective provinces to coordinate the set-up of monitoring sites, training, data collection and tool delivery. Insect monitoring protocols were compiled to ensure that best monitoring practices were implemented to run the program. Near real-time weather information was obtained from Environment Canada on a weekly basis, and degree-days for the target pests were accumulated daily, and incorporated as part of the updates. Wind trajectories were analyzed to assist in predicting migration, and threat of, diamondback moth and leafhoppers from USA and Mexico to Canada. As well, potential new invasive species and their natural enemies were monitored and the risks/benefits were quantified.
As a result of the project, a prairie-wide, coordinated insect monitoring program was established, and was designed to keep the agriculture industry informed of the risks to crop production from pest species and to highlight/conserve their natural enemies. Insect monitoring protocols were compiled and updated to ensure a ‘best practice’ approach was implemented in relation to pest surveys across the region. Forecasts and risk warnings were developed and weekly pest and crop updates provided electronically to industry, which in turn were posted on collaborator websites, such as Canadian Wheat Board, Western Grains Research Foundation and provincial government websites. Risk maps were developed, including prairie-wide, provincial and regional maps, accompanied with interpretive text to farmers, extension personnel, pesticide applicators and pesticide manufacturers. These dynamic forecasts and risk assessments were critical to the decision-making process at the agro-industry and farm level.
Researchers also developed new technologies and fine tuned current risk assessment and decision support tools to support and promote the adoption of IPM. Routine use of risk assessment tools as part of an IPM approach resulted in more sensible pesticide-use decisions, which in turn helped lead to production systems with reduced input costs. At the same time, this helps in addressing concerns regarding a safe, sustainable, and environmentally friendly food/bio-resource supply and potential negative impacts on beneficial species within the agro-ecosystem.
This project has established a prairie-wide, coordinated insect monitoring program designed to keep the agriculture industry informed of the risks to crop production from pest species and to highlight/conserve their natural enemies. (See related project 3.7.8.)
Scientific Publications
Dosdall, L.M., Cárcamo, H.A., Olfert, O., Meers, S., Hartley, S., and Gavloski, J.E. (2011). "Insect invasions of agroecosystems in the western Canadian prairies: case histories, patterns, and implications for ecosystem function.", Biological Invasions, 13(5), pp. 1135-1149. doi: 10.1007/s10530-011-9951-8
Full Report PDF: n/a