With the continuing decline in fast-acting crop protection products authorised for use in fruit crops, Niab’s Cropping Systems team have been harnessing naturally occurring organisms from the surrounding environment In so doing, increasing thought is being given to the management of natural habitats in and around fruit crops and the impact that landscape complexity has on pest control.
Niab has been one of seven partners in an EUfunded project entitled ‘AgroBioConnect: Connections in the landscape. Role of landscape complexity in agroecosystem sustainability ’.
The project has investigated the connection between landscape complexity, measured using satellite remote sensing, on above- and below-ground ecosystem services in a range of agricultural landscapes. The general objective of Niab’s research was to examine how the landscape surrounding strawberry crops influences beneficial organisms.