The state’s nurseries now resort to bug-on-bug biological control

Jul 30, 2012 09:54 GMT  ·  By

Since the plants grown in Oregon's nurseries are regarded as being highly valuable and, therefore, important for the state's economy, it is no wonder that considerable amounts of effort go into protecting them from various pests.

Up until recently, the decorative shrubs, trees and flowers taken care of in these greenhouses and nurseries were kept safe and sound by means of chemical pesticides.

However, it now seems that biologists reached the conclusion that a more “natural” approach would be equally – if not more – efficient, not to mention the fact that costs would also be considerably diminished.

As Oregon Live informs us, said plants are now protected by various bug species which feed on the pests that used to ravage the state's nurseries in the past.

It seems that these beneficial insects are so efficient in removing unwanted species, that chemical pesticides are now regarded as being obsolete.

Kathleen Baughman from Heirloom Roses explains how, “We were spraying for spider mites almost every week in the greenhouses. We spray once every two or three months now.”

She goes on to point out that, “Nobody likes to spray. Not controlling pests is not an option; that's why we're really happy the industry has given us a much more sustainable avenue.”

Interestingly enough, representatives of one such nursery in Dayton argue that using natural pest predators to safeguard some of their plants allowed them to not use chemical pesticides in well over 10 years.

The same source informs us that, although the idea to use various insect species as an effective means to control the pests population when growing valuable plants might seem like a novelty, this environmentally-friendly strategy was the only one farmers had at hand before the chemical pesticides were first discovered.

From where we stand, the idea to put bugs to such better uses might also come in handy when it comes to protecting crops and boosting the efficiency of agricultural practices worldwide, especially seeing how chemical pesticides are a proven source of environmental pollution.