<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/18/sticky-trick-new-glue-spray-kills-plant-pests-without-chemicals>
"Tiny sticky droplets sprayed on crops to trap pests could be a green
alternative to chemical pesticides, research has shown.
The insect glue, produced from edible oils, was inspired by plants such as
sundews that use the strategy to capture their prey. A key advantage of
physical pesticides over toxic pesticides is that pests are highly unlikely to
evolve resistance, as this would require them to develop much larger and
stronger bodies, while bigger beneficial insects, like bees, are not trapped by
the drops.
Pests destroy large amounts of food and chemical pesticide use has risen by 50%
in the past three decades, as the growing global population demands more food.
But increasing evidence of great harm to nature and wildlife, and sometimes
humans, has led to a rising number of pesticides being banned.
Some farmers already use alternatives to chemical pesticides, such as
introducing other insects that kill the pests, but the new sticky drops are
thought to be the first such biodegradable pesticide to be demonstrated.
The drops were tested on the western flower thrip, which are known to attack
more than 500 species of vegetable, fruit and ornamental crops. More than 60%
of the thrips were captured within the two days of the test, and the drops
remained sticky for weeks.
Work on the sticky pesticide is continuing, but Dr Thomas Kodger at Wageningen
University & Research, in the Netherlands, who is part of the self defence
project doing the work, said: “We hope it will have not nearly as disastrous
side-effects on the local environment or on accidental poisonings of humans.
And the alternatives are much worse, which are potential starvation due to crop
loss or the overuse of chemical pesticides, which are a known hazard.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
