The PPMN is a network of field crop entomologists established in 1997 to conduct research and monitor insect pest populations across the prairies. Vankosky is able to utilize decades of work carried out by the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network (PPMN) to help with her work. It all boils down to the need to make informed decisions.ĭr. These measures are expensive and it’s even more expensive to do nothing.
Pest management efforts mean high costs for pesticides and other measures, plus reduced income from reduced crop yields. These pests target canola crops and are responsible for causing over $300 million in damages every year. One common example of hungry pests is the flea beetle. Insect populations come in two groups: hungry pests (who cause major crop losses) and beneficial bugs (who hunt pests and pollinate plants). Saskatchewan is predicted to see new pests as conditions are favourable for these insects to expand further north. If an increased threat of summer droughts and seasonal storms is not enough, insect populations also respond to these same changes.Īnd with warmer summers and milder winters in the prairies, insects are given an opportunity to expand their reach significantly.
Here, she leads a team of experts who are working tirelessly to track insect pests and mitigate the risk to farmers.Ĭlimate change is a growing concern across the globe as well as here on the prairies.Ĭrops depend on weather and climate conditions to flourish. Vankosky is a field crop entomologist, and she works at the Saskatoon Research and Development Centre. None of these are names that farmers want to hear, and nobody wants to see them decimate crops as climate conditions continue to change.ĭr. Pest insects include grasshoppers, bertha armyworms, diamondback moths, cabbage seedpod weevils and more. Add global warming to the mix, with warmer summers and milder winters, and the recipe is right for disaster. Insect pests have always been the plague of farmers, and everyone living on the prairies can attest to that fact.
0 kommentar(er)
