Innovation in Battling The Boll Weevil
Since November 2016, I have been collaborating on a consortium lead project as part of Rainbow Professional's developing Pest Control division of the company which is primarily focused on insect pest control. The study of insects, which is scientifically referred to as entomology, covers the physiology, anatomy, behaviour and lifecycles of these fascinating and often intimidating creatures, many of which go completely unnoticed or even avoided in many cases by the vast majority of people. There are literally millions of different species of insects living in all habitats known to man, many of which are uninhabitable or even inaccessible to humans, but the emphasis behind insect pest control is to study and devise products, components & systems which can help to protect valuable resources such as commercially grown crops and trees.
Insects can be hugely damaging to all kinds of crops, livestock and obviously humans through harmful disease transmission such as HIV, Dengue and many other infectious and potentially life threatening diseases, but pest control is not aimed at eradication of these insects, it is more of a defence mechanism to ensure the time, effort and investment of the commercial enterprise remains viable which ultimately protects the livelihood of the people and to a larger extent, sometimes a country's entire economy.
Insects play a vital part in sustainability of life on earth and our overall ecology. It was once said that if all the bees suddenly ceased to exist, mankind would only have 4 years of life left! An alarming quote which was supposedly stated by Einstein though never actually proved. What is true however, is that bees, along with some other insect species are important pollinators of around 70 of the 100 or so crops that feed 90% of the world’s population, now if we don’t protect the bees, we risk security of food sources, and that is something we should take note of.
Pesticides...
Since World War II, the use of pesticides has increased exponentially. The main types of pesticide used are neonicotinoids, organophosphates and pyrethroids. Neonicotinoids (Imidacloprid, Thiacloprid, Clothianidin) are the most damaging to bee populations as they act as a kind of nerve agent which confuses the bees making them unable to find their way home which ultimately leads to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
Pyrethroids, or rather the 2nd generation of them which include the likes of Deltamethrin, Permethrin and Cypermethrin were developed to overcome the problems of the 1st generation pyrethroids and although more active than natural pyrethrum (which is found in chrysanthemum flowers) they rapidly degrade in sunlight. Although the 2nd generation made the use of this effective pesticide more effective in agriculture, the detrimental effect was the increase in mammalian toxicity. Pyrethroids are also detrimental to bees and other beneficial insects such as mayflies, dragonflies and some other invertebrates.
(Colony Collapse Disorder - Before & After)
Organophosphates are another particularly nasty type of nerve agent some of which are also officially classed as ‘probably’ carcinogenic to humans. They can affect unborn fetus development and they have widespread detriment to health through prolonged exposure. Symptoms of repeated or prolonged exposure include; impaired memory and concentration, disorientation, severe depressions, irritability, confusion, headache, speech difficulties, delayed reaction times, nightmares, sleepwalking, drowsiness, or insomnia. An influenza-like condition with headache, nausea, weakness, loss of appetite, and malaise are all reported as effects of exposure.
In recent years however, there is a raised awareness through various internationally lead campaigns to move away from synthetic or harmful pesticide use in agriculture and horticulture for pest control. Instead, many are turning to alternative methods of pest control often referred to as biocontrol, biopesticides, or biological pest control. The methods are far from straightforward and simple to implement and often require a great depth of understanding of the problem at hand before an effective measure can be put in place to begin to control the damages the insect pests can cause. This method of control is more commonly referred to as Integrated Pest Management or IPM for short, and whilst the objective is to utilise alternative means of pest control to synthetic or harmful pesticides, sometimes these chemicals etc. can play an important part of an Integrated Pest Management program.
So, the long shot of it all is that mass use of widespread pesticides is detrimental to life on earth. Correct? Chemicals used to protect our crops from insect infestation and damage are actually harming our environment, our drinking water and in some cases the very ground in which the crops are grown, but we do need food, we need to continue to grow crops and we need to protect them to increase yields. The only way we can do this is through careful consideration and utilisation of the tools and methods at our disposal, and this is how Rainbow came to be involved in the complex and hugely misunderstood world of entomological pest control.
The Project.
Over the last two years, I have been working very closely with some of the world’s leading scientists & experts in biological pest control, entomology, nematology and other specialist scientific disciplines relating to the development of the new division of the company. As part of this business development, I have been heading up Rainbow’s contribution to the project consortium which is part funded by Innovate UK, the title of which is ‘Reduced Pesticide Contamination of Groundwater.’ This project is crosslinked with partners in Brazil and is predominantly focused on the cotton farming sector of the country. In the United States, during the late 1990’s a widespread program set out to eradicate the Cotton Boll Weevil which was to all intents and purposes very successful, although very costly to implement. In Brazil & other areas of Latin America, this has not been the case and the Cotton Boll Weevil (Anthonomus Grandiis) is still responsible for widespread crop losses and reduction in yields. The project Rainbow are participating in aims to tackle the problem in two ways:
- Increase efficacy of pest control through implementation of new and innovative products and components
- Reduce amount of pesticide used to tackle the pest problem and therefore reduce the groundwater contamination.
The key to the success of implementing such a program revolves around its participants and the valuable input they bring to the table. Our project consortium consists of the following partners:
The Academic Partners:
The Industrial Partners:
Further details on the project can be found on the Bangor University website: https://biocontrol.bangor.ac.uk/. The project has seen the partners overcome great difficulties due to the seasonality of the crop, rotation and insect behaviour, however lab bioassays developed by NIAB/EMR on the close relative of Anthonomus Grandiis, Anthonomus Eugenii (Pepper Weevil) have been simulated in Brazil with the Cotton Boll Weevil. Boll Weevil is difficult to control due to the infestation problem only becoming evident in the poor formation of cotton bolls later in the growing season, which is often too late. The Boll Weevil lays dormant (Overwinters) in surrounding scrub land or hedgerows close to the cotton fields once food sources are depleted and until the next crop is suitable for oviposition. When the Boll Weevil attacks the crop, it targets the developing bolls and punctures them laying eggs deep inside. As the eggs hatch and larvae begin to develop, they start to feed to the underdeveloped cotton squares resulting in poor or deformed cotton which ultimately ruins the harvest. Current control measures rely on heavy use of organophospate pesticide, Melathion to control the pest, which is incredibly effective but extremely toxic to workers, wildlife, marine life and other beneficial insects.
The project was originally scheduled to run from Nov 16 until Nov 18, but as a first for Innovate UK, the project has been granted a 6 month additionally funded time extension to allow for further, enhanced trials to take place in Brazil and for the consortium to assess the overall impact of the control method proposal. Rainbow are very proud to be collaborating on such a worthy and important project and already see great opportunities as a result of further development of the concept. The lure & kill strategy for pest control is quite a new concept relatively, but with the specialist scope and knowledge of the partners involved, Rainbow and the rest of the consortium see this project going from strength to strength.
Further to the core focus of the project being on reducing groundwater contamination, a further advantage of this new system is the novel use of biopolymers as the core material. We are proud to be working alongside experts in the biopolymer field to develop other new products which will be primarily made from biodegradable materials and bioplastics. Rainbow Professional have always been at the forefront of Eco-conscious manufacturing within our market sector using primarily recycled materials for the vast majority of the products we manufacture. In light of the recent media and worldwide attention to plastics and the terrible and somewhat diabolical scenes depicted in various parts of the world attributed to plastics pollution, Rainbow continue to seek new and innovative ways to further enhance their sustainable manufacturer status. Rainbow has been synonymous with the manufacture and worldwide supply of a wide range of tree care and horticultural products from the humble tree spiral to the much superior, Defender Tree Shelter. Rainbow’s tree care range is the choice of the tree professional for protection and growth enhancement of saplings. For more details on the full Rainbow product range please visit: https://rainbow.eu.com