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Trials in the UK of a biological and chemical free technique for the control of spotted wing drosophila (SWD) in soft – fruit crops have shown how it can outperform insecticides when used in commercial conditions.
Developed by British start-up BigSis, the system using an updated version of the sterile insect technique (SIT) reduced numbers of the damaging adult female SWD by up to 88% compared to a conventional, sprayed control.
Funded by an international company that has been working with BigSis to validate the chemical – free solution for global use,the trials
also achieved an 80% reduction in signs of SWD activity on the fruit and saw fruit waste during picking cut by more than half.
“Only two years ago we completed a world- first field trial of an SWD control solution based on SIT,” says BigSis founder Glen Slade, “with results that showed up to 91% reduction of female SWD numbers in commercial strawberries.
“To achieve such good levels of control this year , again on a commercial farm, but this time compared to industry standard insecticide use, is a vindication of SIT’s ability to provide growers with a non-chemical, non-GMO, non-toxic route to effective and affordable insect pest control.”
The UK trials focused on an 11 – hectare field of Maravilha raspberries divided into three maturities, a common practice that allows continuous harvesting from early July to early September. In each maturity, BigSis SIT was compared to control plots that received a single spray of Tracer (spinosad). Insect traps recorded adult female numbers in each plot .
The fruit waste during picking was monitored across all plots and marketable fruit were inspected for signs of SWD activity.
First deployed more than 60 years ago, SIT – which uses sterile male insects to arrest the growth of an in – crop pest population – had always been regarded as too expensive to deploy commercially.
But BigSis has revitalised interest in the technique. Its approach, which combines artificial intelligence and robotics to raise , sort and sterilise millions of male insects in an automated production facility, has effectively reinvented SIT and slashed its cost by up to 90%, making it affordable for field – by – field control.
BigSis launched its season – long insect control as a service (ICaaS) in 2023, offering growers on – farm releases of its sterile male insects.
“We’re delighted with the results, as is the company that funded the trial,” enthuses Glen. “Our SIT is a zero – regulatory approach for many of the key markets in soft – fruit production, including England and four leading states in the USA.
“Effective control of SWD addresses a major global need in high – value crops, while enabling farmers to meet the expectations of regulators and consumers by reducing the use of crop protection chemicals in food crops.”
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About BigSis
Founded in 2017, BigSis aims to provide the world’s farmers and growers with a viable, affordable and environmentally benign alternative to chemical insecticides.
Founder Glen Slade previously spent five years commercialising a GM SIT solution, before founding BigSis to develop individualised insect rearing. He then realised the opportunity to offer SIT by using computer vision to sex -sort and X-rays to sterilise the insects.
The BigSis system is protected by three patent filings, trade secret know-how and an ever-growing proprietary dataset.
Credits:- http://www.bigsis.tech