UK: Companion plants and sowing rapeseed into stubble reduced damage from stem flea beetle

The portal AgroXXI.ru has read the release from Rothamsted Research on the results of a multi-year field experiment with regenerative practices for the protection of winter rapeseed: “Field trials carried out as part of the EU-funded EcoStack project over four seasons on experimental fields of the British University of Rothamsted Research showed that relatively simple changes to winter rapeseed crop management can help control the ubiquitous cabbage stem flea beetle pest. In the UK, the spread of cabbage stem flea beetle has led many farmers to abandon cultivation of the crop altogether. The reason is the introduction of a pan-European ban on neonicotinodes for seed treatment and the growth of cabbage stem flea beetle populations that are resistant to pyrethroid insecticides. The trial, carried out by Rothamsted Research on a farm in Hertfordshire, assessed crop damage to winter oilseed rape from this pest when sowed using different methods and with different companion plants, ...