Scouting
Effective scouting provides growers with the information
required to measure the progress of a biological control programme and measure
the risk of any crop damage occurring before the control is achieved.
Apart from our specialist training course in IPM Field Skills we also provide the
following support services:
Design of IPM scouting protocols
Contact us for advice on the design of crop specific IPM
scouting methods for fruit, flower and vegetable crops. This service can either
be a paper-based system or a computerised system, where scouting data is
analysed electronically and produces weekly update graphs on the progress
achieved to date in key performance areas, such as the ratio of beneficial to
pest and the average number of pest per plant.
Contract scouting
For dedicated Real IPM customers who are purchasing
beneficial insects exclusively from Real IPM, we offer a contract scouting
service. In conjunction with weekly meetings with the Company Crop Protection
Manager, this provides a strategic plan on the numbers of beneficial insects to
apply each week and the compatible fungicides and insecticides which will need
to be applied for other pests and diseases.
Our crop protection managers are BASIS qualified. This
enables customers using their services to comply with GLOBAL GAP requirements
for receiving crop protection advice from 'competent' advisors (even if they do
not have a BASIS qualified person on their staff). We also provide BASIS and
FACTS training.
This type of scouting information is just as useful in
conventional spray programmes as it gives a much more objective picture of the
weekly changes in pest and disease levels than the more commonly used pest or
disease index method - which grades pest levels subjectively as 'high','medium'
and 'low'. By using more objective, quantitative scouting methods, the grower
will identify which insecticides and fungicides no longer work because of
resistance or discover problems associated with poor application methods, or
inappropriate active ingredients applied. Contact us to discuss your
requirements.
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