More than half of OSR plants are infested with flea beetle larvae

摘要

Oilseed rape growers are facing a worsening cabbage stem flea beetle problem. Richard Allison looks at the effect it has had this winter and a potential solution being tested by a group of farmers.Nearly 53% oilseed rape crops that survived last autumn's flea beetle onslaught are infested with larvae at levels that will hit yields. Last autumn saw the worst cabbage stem flea beetle invasion to hit oilseed rape crops since the loss of neonicotinoid seed treatments, resulting in an average 11% of crops failing to establish in England.