Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
July 24, 2007
The days of soybean aphids
feasting on Minnesota's soybean fields may be numbered.
University of Minnesota scientists are field testing a
beneficial insect--a stingless wasp also known as Binodoxys
communis--that kills soybean aphids. The U received
permission from the federal government to proceed with the
research and is the leading institution in the testing.
A successful field test would
be a major breakthrough in controlling a damaging Minnesota crop
pest. The soybean aphid appeared in Minnesota fields in 2000 and
today costs Minnesota soybean growers an estimated $200 million
annually in lost crop yields and spraying costs.
"The soybean aphid was imported
without any of its natural enemies, the organisms that keeps
aphids in check in China," said Dave Ragsdale, a University of
Minnesota entomologist. "Our researchers and Extension experts
are working to provide that check-and-balance system in
Minnesota."
Multiple stages of evaluation
and testing have been completed at the Insect Quarantine
Facility, a joint effort between the Minnesota Department of
Agriculture and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station on
the U's Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. Special security and air
filtration systems ensure that the insects being evaluated don't
venture out on their own. Field testing will take place in a
limited number of grower fields and at Research and Outreach
Centers.
Binodoxys communis was
approved for release based upon four years of laboratory safety
testing. It is an especially promising species for control of
soybean aphid because it comes from a region in China that is a
good climate match to Minnesota. The stingless wasp specializes
in soybean aphid and has been observed apparently controlling it
in China.
A cooperative effort between
the University, the state, and soybean growers like New Richland
farmer Larry Muff have made this experiment possible.
"The soybean check-off (a
farmer financed fund to research and promote the crop) is
committed to supporting research that will mitigate this
devastating pest," said Muff, co-chair of the Minnesota Soybean
Research and Tech Transfer Committee. "Organic growers will also
benefit from this biological control of aphids."
University researchers and
Minnesota Department of Agriculture scientists will monitor the
ability of Binodoxys communis to kill soybean aphids
this summer and continue the attack this fall when soybean
aphids move to buckthorn plants. And the researchers will test
to see whether Binodoxys communis will survive the
winter to battle soybean aphids in 2008.
There's also a backup plan.
Eleven other species and strains of stingless wasps are under
evaluation and some of these that have shown promise from both a
safety and efficacy standpoint may be field tested in 2008.
More information on the field
testing is available at
http://www.soybeans.umn.edu/home.htm. |
