Seminar of Department of Botany and Centre of Excellence EcolChange
Speaker: Prof. Marika Mänd is head of the Chair of Plant Health at the Estonian University of Life Sciences.
Title of the talk: Pollinators in plant protection: hazards and utility possibilities
Time: Thursday, 15. March 2017 at 15.15
Place: Tartu, Lai 40-218 (Vaga auditorium)
Abstract:
Strawberry is an extremely important crop in Europe, with a very good marketing potential. However, it suffers heavily from the grey mould disease, against which organic growers have no protection methods. Microorganisms for biological control are available, but either are not practical or too expensive to use for reliable plant protection. The key question is how to deliver the crop protectant to the flowers at the right time, and in quantities large enough. One solution is to use bees who transport the plant protection product to flowers. This technique requires knowledge on several interactions between the vector, the target crop and the pest organism.
