News about Defence

Eradicating Agrobacterium starts from the roots

Crop protection

23 Jul 2024

Researchers from the academies of agricultural and forestry sciences in Beijing (China) used the cherry cultivar ‘Haiying 1’, which is extremely resistant to crown gall, and ‘Gisela 6’, a cherry cultivar susceptible to crown gall, for grafting.

A smartphone is now enough to diagnose cherry diseases

Crop protection

23 Jul 2024

Three separate methodologies, namely the YOLOv8s, RtmDET MM Detection and DETR Transformer algorithms, were trained on the generated hybrid dataset and compared with each other. The YOLOv8s algorithm showed the best performance as a result of the training.

Fighting Drosophila suzukii: hopes are pinned on the antagonist Ganaspis brasiliensis

Crop protection

16 Jul 2024

"There have already been promising results in North America, where it has become naturally established. We are currently testing its acclimatisation and effectiveness in about 60 plots throughout France,' explains Nicolas Borowizc of INRAE Paca.

Drosophila suzukii in the spotlight: protecting Australian crops from the global pest

Crop protection

12 Jul 2024

Although not yet detected in Australia, it is known to spread rapidly and has been identified as the third priority plant pest nationwide. Early detection and reporting is critical to manage and prevent its spread.

Technical meeting on cherry tree varieties and defence: preview of results from Agrion Foundation

Events

12 Jul 2024

Agrion researchers Davide Nari and Valentina Roera presented the latest developments in cherry and apricot variety comparisons, while Francesca Pettiti and Luca Nari showed updates from the Forficula Auricolaria and Drosophila Suzukii trials.

FF-IPM project: European programme to approach fruit fly control

Crop protection

05 Jul 2024

The project was initiated to develop prevention and early detection approaches that can be combined with integrated pest management approaches against these new fruit fly species, particularly for out-of-season fruit production.

Plant viruses can be studied with the help of bees

Crop protection

05 Jul 2024

The study conducted by several Canadian research centres used pollen 'sampled' by bees to perform metagenomic monitoring of plant viruses. In detail, viruses extracted from pollen RNA were compared with RNA extracted from leaves and flowers.

Control of cherry fruit fly using trunk injection techniques

Crop protection

03 Jul 2024

In an in-depth study conducted by the University of Budapest (Hungary), the effectiveness of trunk injections was evaluated using four different pesticides against Rhagoletis cerasi. Among these, acetamiprid emerged as the most promising candidate.

INSTINCT project: efficient and sustainable agriculture thanks to artificial intelligence

Crop protection

03 Jul 2024

The Laimburg research institute has launched the INSTINCT project, a pioneering initiative in the field of precision agriculture. INSTINCT focuses on the use of advanced technologies to optimise crop management and improve agricultural practices.

New orange-scented traps to combat Drosophila suzukii

Crop protection

28 Jun 2024

Manfred Hartbauer of the University of Graz and his team developed a biocide against this pest. The biocide attracts cherry vinegar flies with the scent of orange peel and at the same time has an insecticidal effect.