Every other week, Bjørn Viken receives buzzing packages in the mail. – A terrified postman will come through the door with that package, he says. The bumblebees and insects in the package will pollinate the greenhouse and kill pests on his vegetable plants. They are called useful animals. Viken is a tomato producer in Frosta in Trøndelag and uses useful animals in food production, rather than pesticides. Some of them eat the pests, while others lay eggs in the pests’ eggs. – There is biological warfare taking place in the greenhouse, says Viken. Tomato producer Bjørn Viken is satisfied with the work the beneficial animals do in the greenhouse. Photo: Ytre Viken – Must get started now that the EU has a target of reducing the use of poison in pesticides by 50 per cent by 2030. If the target is to be reached, we must pick up the pace. – Then we have to get started now, because there is not long to go, but we are well on our way. There are tendencies towards more and more focus on biological plant protection, says Silje Stenstad Nilsen. She is the general manager of Biologisk AS. A company that imports and distributes farm animals. Pests and fungi cause between 20 and 40 percent of the world’s food waste, according to the UN. Sprays are a common way of combating pests, but now more and more are switching to biological plant protection. Dark earth hops are frequently used around Norwegian greenhouses. Since the 1950s, it has spread around the country Photo: Arnstein Staverløkk / Norwegian Institute for Natural Research Figures from Statistics Norway show that 99.7 percent of the cucumbers grown in this country are treated with biological agents at least once during the growing period. – This is very good news, says Nilsen. Silje Stenstad Nilsen hopes more farmers and gardeners will switch to using useful animals. Photo: Privat Spraying agents can be harmful to biodiversity. Nilsen also points to health risks for the user, as an important reason to replace it. – If you spray, you can’t work in the greenhouse like you do if you use beneficial animals. You can literally go and eat the food package while using livestock, because it is not dangerous, she says. However, it is not entirely risk-free. Should be restrictive Several of the species imported to the greenhouses in Norway are predatory insects that can eat many types of other insects. – They are generalists who have a broad menu, you could say, says Inga Elise Bruteig. She is director of research at the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research and says that in many ways it is desirable to replace chemical spraying. Nevertheless, she is aware that one must be careful when using predatory insects and bumblebees as beneficial animals in greenhouses. – One must be quite restrictive on which species are used in biological control, says Bruteig. Research director at NINA, Inga Elise Bruteig. Photo: Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (NINA) Can threaten diversity Bumblebees and insects that are imported to places where they do not belong naturally can be harmful to the local species diversity. Bruteig says the danger is great that the predatory insects that get out of the greenhouse will be able to eat other species, which you don’t want to fight. In the worst case, the predatory insects can exterminate species in the area. – Once an alien species has established itself in Norwegian nature, it can be terribly difficult, if not impossible, to deal with it, says Bruteig. – A precautionary approach and thorough knowledge of the various species is therefore important, she adds.
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Farmers and gardeners replace chemical pesticides with live insects – news Trøndelag
