Nowadays, society demands food quality that requires the absence of pesticide residues. As a consequence is increasing the development and implementation of pest management programs based on the use of natural enemies.
This implies the need to determine the impact of the most recommended pesticides in those programs on auxiliary fauna. IRTA offers this service to agrochemical companies developing new pesticides to be registered, for which they need to perform toxicity tests on beneficial arthropods. Or for those companies with products already registered that do not know its effect on the auxiliary fauna present in our area, as this information will be of great importance to product recommendation. Thus, through this service we can evaluate the toxicity of pesticides on natural enemies that are considered key to respect for controlling certain pest species.
IRTA has facilities to perform both laboratory (environmental chambers, insect rearing materials, etc.), and the semi-field tests (greenhouses and outdoor crop plots) to carry out the assessments.
Services
›› Lethal effects on adults and/or immature stages: Evaluation of mortality from pesticide residues in the plant.
›› Sublethal effects on female reproduction: Evaluation of fertility of females that were exposed to fresh residues, relative to control females.
›› Persistence of residual toxicity to adults and/or immature stages: Evaluation of the toxicity of the pesticide after 1, 3, 8, 21 and / or 30 days after application on the plant.
Applications
›› Insecticides/acaricides/fungicides being registered or being tested for control of new pests, and for which it is necessary to know its compatibility with useful fauna associated with pests.
›› Development of biological control programs for which it is necessary to know the compatibility of certain pesticides with the natural enemies of key crop pests.
