Regenerative agriculture impacts on insect pest pressure in specialty crops

Monday, November 14, 2022

11:54 AM – 12:06 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 122

Presenting Author(s)

George O. Oganda

Graduate Research Assistant
University of Illinois
Champaign, Illinois

Co-Author(s)

Kacie Jo Athey

Specialty Crops Entomologist and Extension Specialist
University of Illinois
Champaign, Illinois

The global demand for food is increasing and high human population numbers and depletion of land resources put immense pressure on food production. Regenerative agriculture practices that aim to improve soil health, food productivity, reduce insect pest pressure and help to enhance environmental sustainability can be used to counteract the negative effects of intensive agriculture. Eliminating tillage and using ground covers are commonly associated with process-based definitions of regenerative agriculture for improved soil health, but the effect of these on foliar insect pests has not been extensively studied. Our study investigated both no-till and use of ground covers (living cover crops, straw, and plastic mulch) as regenerative agricultural practices, focusing on their effects on soil health and insect pest pressure in tomato and cucumber production at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Student Sustainable Farm. We monitored aphids, spider mites, caterpillars, potato leafhoppers, and thrips and yield data was collected at harvest. The no-till plots with straw ground cover had less mean insect pest pressure compared to the tilled plots with plastic ground cover in year one. There was no effect of any treatment on yield in year one. We attribute the pest reduction in year one to the ground cover and not the tillage regime, but as these are the first years of a long-term study, we expect that the tillage regime will have a greater effect on insect pests and yield as the study progresses.