Replacing insecticides with pheromone-based mating disruption can reduce ecotoxicity significantly. This is the result of a life cycle assessment (LCA) study carried out by Fraunhofer IBP, a German life cycle expert, which SEDQ partners with under the EU-funded PHERA project.

The study compared conventional cultivation using conventional chemicals, irrigation and machinery with three Integrated Pest Management (IPM) scenarios, where the insecticide was replaced by pheromone in varying quantity and yield effects.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is by many seen as the answer to increases in pesticide use, insect resistance and environmental and human health concerns. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, which promotes IPM,[i] defines IPM as “the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques (…) to grow healthy crops and minimise the use of pesticides, reducing or minimising risks posed by pesticides to human health and the environment for sustainable pest management.”[ii]

Ideally, pesticides should be applied to keep pests, diseases and weeds below their economic damage threshold without harming humans and the environment. Pests must be controlled to a level that allows sustainable crop production, but there is no need to kill every single insect in a crop. This is what underpins IPM. By using a combination of biological, chemical, physical and crop-specific (cultural) management strategies and practices, IPM seeks to minimise the chemical component to need-based application of less hazardous pesticides.

The Fraunhofer study found that pheromone-based mating disruption “can eliminate or significantly reduce the ecotoxicity (30-50%) of conventional agriculture through replacement of conventional insecticides”. The degree of impact depends on the crop and, hence, the type of insecticide used (the study looked at five different crops in three different countries – corn in the US, soybean in Brazil and brassica cabbages, cotton and grapes in Greece).

The best improvement was observed in US corn sprayed with the commonly used pyrethroid insecticide, Lambda Cyhalothrin. Ecotoxicity was reduced to almost 0, while human toxicity (non-cancer effects) was reduced by 80%. In fact, the toxicity of Lambda Cyhalothrin is so predominant that the impacts caused by other pesticides in the study, including the herbicide Glyphosate and the fungicide Folpet, are negligible. In comparison, the study saw a reduction in ecotoxicity of more than 50% in soybeans in Brazil and almost 30% in grapes in Greece.

In this study it was assumed that the entire amount of insecticide would be replaced by pheromone. In real life, this may not be realistic, but the more insecticide we can replace with pheromones, the better for the environment.

Fraunhofer IBP is a German research institute rooted in building physics and urban planning with a designated Department of Life Cycle Engineering. Under the auspices of the EU-funded PHERA Project, Fraunhofer has used life cycle assessment (LCA) methods to assess the sustainability of the projects’ pheromone products and their application.

The first LCA study of its kind

This is the first LCA study comparing insecticides with mating disruption using fermented pheromones.

In the study, Fraunhofer compared the environmental impacts of production and use of conventional insecticide with those of pheromone. Parameters examined included climate change, energy use, acidification, terrestrial eutrophication, photochemical ozone formation and toxicity (freshwater ecotoxicity and human toxicity (cancer effects) and human toxicity (non-cancer effects)).

The research institute quickly ran into limitations of the existing LCA models. Life cycle assessments of pesticides are subject to many uncertainties as pesticides impact the entire environment, not just a target organism. Finding the balance between too simple and too complex is a challenge in life cycle assessments.

The current standard model “USEtox” is recommended by the European Commission for use in Product Environmental Footprint calculations, but with caution.

Results like these drive the PHERA Project. This EU-funded project seeks to broaden the scope for pheromones. The PHERA Project brings together the fermentation expertise of BioPhero with the production capacity of the Bioprocess Pilot Facility, the pheromone formulation and application skills of SEDQ, ISCA, Russell IPM and NovAgrica, and the life cycle knowledge of Fraunhofer.

Photo: <a href=’https://www.freepik.es/vectores/dibujos-animados‘>Vector de Dibujos animados creado por vectorjuice – www.freepik.es</a>

The Ebro Delta of Spain spans more than 30,000 hectares (320 km2). Its lagoons, marshes, pans and beaches shelter 77 protected plant and vertebrate species. With more than 343 species of birds recorded, it is a haven for birdwatchers. Not surprisingly, part of the area is a designated Natural Park in Spain and protected under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives, the Ramsar Convention and UNESCO.

Unfortunately, the 7,800-hectar Natural Park is surrounded by 22,000 hectares of rice, a favoured crop of the striped rice stemborer (Chilo Suppressalis). This is a pest notoriously difficult to control. On hatching from the eggs, the larvae quickly bore into the rice stem, where they stay until they emerge from the pupae, making them difficult to control with traditional insecticides. As a result, the Ebro Delta was sprayed with hundreds of thousands of litres of aggressive insecticides such as organophosphates in the 1980s and 1990s, killing off pests and beneficial insects alike, along with birds, fish, amphibians and other lifeforms.

Something had to be done, and that something became the introduction of pheromone-based mating disruption. Pheromones are natural molecules secreted by moths in particular to attract a mate. If a farmer disperses the same pheromones in a field, the insects’ I-am-here pheromone trail is veiled, and they can’t find each other. No mating means no eggs and no plant-munching larvae.

The transition from insecticides to mating disruption in the Ebro Delta happened gradually in cooperation with SEDQ. The growers began with mass trapping in 2000, using pheromone-loaded traps to attract the moths, combined with aerial spraying if needed, and only if needed. In 2012, they introduced mating disruption, and by 2015, all 22,000 hectares of rice were cultivated using mating disruption only.

The results speak for themselves. Today, the growers of the Ebro Delta have almost eliminated the use of pesticide – only a few percent of cultivated area need to be sprayed – to the benefit of the area’s fauna. Further south along Spain’s eastern coastline, one finds the Albufera Natural Park, another important wetland surrounded by paddy fields. Here, the growers were a little quicker at embracing mating disruption, spurred on by an impending ban on aerial spraying by 2009. A study of waterbirds in Albufera from 2009 to 2017 found that the number of breeding pairs had increased by over 40 times.

The pheromone blend used in the Ebro Delta is incorporated into a polymer dispenser together with UV blockers and antioxidants to protect the active ingredient. The growers simply have to place the dispensers on sticks in the field – and only once. Treatment no longer has to be repeated, and the biodegradable canes can be left in the field to decompose. It is easy and more cost-effective than conventional spraying.

Results like these drive the PHERA Project. This EU-funded project seeks to broaden the scope for pheromones. The PHERA Project brings together the fermentation expertise of BioPhero with the production capacity of the Bioprocess Pilot Facility, the pheromone formulation and application skills of SEDQ, ISCA, Russell IPM and NovAgrica, and the life cycle knowledge of Fraunhofer.

Photo: <a href=”https://www.freepik.es/fotos/fondo”>Foto de Fondo creado por wirestock – www.freepik.es</a>

The consortium is formed by different companies that specialize in the application of pheromones: SEDQ Healthy Crops (Spain), ISCA Europe (France), Russell IPM (United Kingdom) and Novagrica (Greece), together with Biophero (Denmark), BFP (Holland) and Fraunhofer (Germany).

Read the latest news about the project at Results – PHERA Project

At SEDQ we are constantly evolving, researching and developing new biological solutions, to protect the health of your crops. This time, that effort to continue growing has led us to change our workplace.

We are moving! Our new address also becomes our headquarters. And with this breath of fresh air, comes also a new name: as of this September, the official name of the company becomes SEDQ Healthy Crops S.L.

Please take note of our new name and our new address and we look forward to your next visit.
SEDQ Healthy Crops S.L.
We are now in Llull street, number 41, in Barcelona,
where we will be delighted to receive you from October 1, 2019.