OSR monitoring network strengthened to help predict CSFB migration

AHDB will monitor cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) at several winter oilseed rape sites across England to track migration this autumn.

Work to track the cabbage stem flea beetle is part of a long-term effort to determine the factors affecting adult migration, with the ultimate ambition to provide a way to predict the start, duration and intensity of migration each year.

In addition to the manual monitoring of yellow water traps for adult beetles, the work will evaluate an automated monitoring technique. It will focus on sites in England, where the pest is most problematic.

Integrated Pest Management

Since neonicotinoid seed treatments were withdrawn in oilseed rape a decade ago, AHDB has invested in numerous projects on the potential of integrated pest management (IPM) approaches.

Earlier this year, Sacha White joined AHDB as a Lead Crop Protection Scientist, having previously led several AHDB-funded CSFB research projects at ADAS.

Sacha says: “We now have a good handle on the components of a CSFB IPM strategy, including strengths and weaknesses. Sowing dates are particularly influential, with a few weeks potentially making the difference between a crop that yields well and one that is written off.

“The most critical damage occurs when young crops encounter peak beetle migration, especially when soil moisture is low. Predicting migration windows would help farmers determine the lowest-risk point to sow oilseed rape.”

Monitoring method

NIAB will lead the latest phase of the monitoring work, which includes assessments of CSFB at seven core sites. Here, yellow water traps will be inspected for adult beetles twice a week during the main migration risk period. Symptoms of crop invasion by larvae will also be noted.

Local variations in CSFB beetle pressure will also be assessed at strategic locations around one of the core sites in Hertfordshire and Essex.

The monitoring data will strengthen a long-term data set that shows how CSFB migration varies annually and regionally in response to local conditions. The information will be used to further develop and validate a decision support system that predicts local migration.

Earlier this year, Bayer launched an automated yellow water trap (MagicTrap) that catches insects and identifies and counts contents at regular intervals using an integrated camera and artificial intelligence.

Sacha White, Lead Crop Protection Scientist

The MagicTraps, which have been used commercially in Germany for the past two seasons and supplied by Bayer at no cost to the project, will be co-located at the monitoring sites. This will allow comparisons between automated and manual monitoring techniques to be made.

Several farmers, mainly from AHDB’s Farm Excellence Network which includes Monitor Farms and Strategic Cereal Farms, will also test MagicTraps this autumn.

To provide an indication of migration in 2024, updates on cumulative numbers of adult CSFB at monitoring sites will be published at www.ahdb.org.uk/csfb.

The digital yellow trap for oilseed rape

MagicTrap is a fully automated digital yellow water trap, providing continuously updated information on pest pressure straight to a smartphone. It autonomously detects, categorises and counts a range of insects, ensuring pest migration events aren’t missed.

It autonomously monitors the field and lets the user know as soon as action is required. If there is a high influx of pests, it sends a notification automatically. Push notifications are sent directly to a smartphone and the analysis can be viewed anytime.

All the images received from the MagicTrap are automatically analysed using artificial intelligence. This will tell the user immediately how many flea beetle, weevil and pollen beetle are in the trap.

The high-resolution camera takes images of the trap’s contents at regular intervals and sends them to the user’s mobile phone. Data received is analysed by machine learning and made available in the MagicScout app.