Functional biodiversity to improve pest control in organic cropping systems

Summary

A sustainable use of functional agrobiodiversity (FAB) providing habitats with suitable floral resources is needed to conserve and improve pest control by natural enemies in organic cropping and other low-input systems. We present an overview on our activities identifying appropriate flowering plants in relation to the antagonists-pest complex and quantifying benefits and limits in lab- and field tests. We have focussed on the control of apple-aphids and cabbage lepidopterean pests in two organic cropping systems. We can show that tailoring the flowering strips to the needs of specific natural enemies within a cropping system is a key issue for successful application of FAB. We found plants as Fagopyrum esculentum, Centaurea cyanus and Vicia sativa enhancing target parasitoids in cabbage, and we found Daucus carota, Carvum carvi, Pastinca sativa, Vicia sepium as promising plants in apple orchards. A successful on-farm application of FAB using flowering strips and companion plants is challenging and needs further analyses of its impact on pest control, considering different scales as plot, farm and landscape.