Andalusia establishes a protocol with ten insects and mites against the pepper thrips

The Junta de Andalucía has agreed on a biological control protocol against Thrips parvispinus, an invasive pest that threatens pepper crops under greenhouse in Almería and whose biology differs notably from that of the western thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), forcing a rethinking of traditional control strategies. The document, prepared by the Plant Health Alert and Information Network (RAIF) and agreed on October 16 at the Technical Table for Plant Health of the Territorial Delegation of Agriculture of Almería, establishes a preventive, sequential plan adapted to the different phases of the crop, based on the progressive introduction of natural enemies according to the environmental and phenological conditions of the plant. The protocol, consulted by Efeagro, recommends the combined use of about ten species of predatory insects and mites —including Amblyseius swirskii, Transeius montdorensis, Amblydromalus limonicus, Orius laevigatus, or Chrysoperla carnea— in addition to ...