Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: canola
- Vegetables: broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, brussel sprouts
Practices
- Crop Production: cover crops, intercropping
- Education and Training: demonstration, display, extension, farmer to farmer, focus group, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research
- Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns, feasibility study, whole farm planning
- Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity
- Pest Management: allelopathy, biological control, biorational pesticides, botanical pesticides, field monitoring/scouting, flame, integrated pest management, mulches - killed, mulches - living, prevention, trap crops, traps
- Soil Management: green manures
- Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures
Abstract:
The crucifer flea beetle (CFB), Phyllotreta cruciferae, is an oligophagous pest of Brassica crops. In plots both west (Mt. Vernon, WA) and east (Moscow, ID) of the Cascade Mountains, we have been evaluating different species-compositions and optimal distance of trap crop plantings that will effectively draw flea beetles out of broccoli, yet prevent over-spilling from occurring. Flea beetle populations in trap-crops were tracked using D-vac suction sampler, while visual observations were used to monitor CFB populations and damage in broccoli. Our results suggests that multi-species trap crops protected broccoli planted at varying distance by inducing subtle changes in CFB behavior.
Project objectives:
We examined simple and diverse trap crop plants in their ability to draw flea beetles away from the broccoli crop.