Controlling insects by radar
Radar is being used at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India to study the migration of flying insects, especially Heliothis armigera or podborer, which causes considerable damage to chickpea, pigeonpea, cotton and other crops. A team of British scientists from the radar unit of the UK's Tropical Development and Research Institute is conducting the studies which they hope will eventually lead to the control of the pests. Due to the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides, which have killed parasites and predators of the Heliothis such as birds and spiders, the pest has lately become more resistant. For a successful pest control strategy, some knowledge of the migratory behaviour of the in sect is necessary but is difficult to obtain with conventional methods such as trapping insects at ground level. The radar equipment monitors the take-off and flight of the Heliothis over a range of 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) and up to altitudes of 1.5 kilometres (9 000 feet). This gives scientists an estimate of the proportion of insects that go on local flights (under 5 kilometres) to those that go on longer flights. This information should help them to predict where damaging pest populations are likely and thus make it possible to confine pesticide use to areas where it is essential. In turn, this should help to preserve important parasites and predators. For further information contact: ICRISAT, Patancheru P O . Andhra Pradesh, 502 324, India.
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
1986
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/44477 http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta03e/ |
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