Terres Inovia puts online two new decision support tools for oilseed rape to estimate the risk related to winter flea beetle larvae and terminal bud weevil

15 Oct 2021

Paris, October 15, 2021 - Terres Inovia has developed and put online on its website two new decision support tools aiming at estimating the risk linked to the presence of terminal bud weevil and winter flea beetle larvae in a plot of rapeseed. This risk assessment integrates, in addition to the presence of the pest, the robustness of the crop and the regional characteristics and is associated with a treatment recommendation. These tools are made available within the framework of the project "Increasing the competitiveness and sustainability of oilseed production" of the Cap Protéines program.

Terres Inovia continues to support producers in the fight against rapeseed pests. The institute has just put online two new tools, which complement the adult flea beetle management tool, to assess the risk in the field related to terminal bud weevil and flea beetle larvae and help make the right decisions.

Rapeseed robustness, a key element to estimate the risk

In order to estimate the risk linked to terminal bud weevils and winter flea beetle larvae, the user is invited to inform the department where his farm is located, if the rapeseed is in a favorable context for its growth, the quality of rooting, the presence of reddening characteristic of a nitrogen deficiency, the stand and the fresh biomass of the crop For winter flea beetle larvae, the number of larvae observed per plant is also indicated, while for the terminal bud weevil, it is a question of informing whether insects have been trapped in the plot or in the sector and possibly the history of its harmfulness. These different elements allow us to estimate a level of risk to which is associated a recommendation of intervention or not, and of insecticide to be preferred according to the context of resistance in the department.

Pests under control, a secure potential

Insect control is one of the first levers to secure rapeseed production. The winter flea beetle (Psylliodes chrysocephala) and the terminal bud weevil (Ceutorhynchus picitarsis) are major pests of the crop. Their larvae develop in the petioles of rapeseed during the fall. The presence of galleries makes the plants sensitive to frost and disease development. The larvae can also reach the terminal bud during the winter and destroy it, disturbing the development of the plant and limiting its yield potential.

Two tools on the Terres Inovia website

These tools are available free of charge to anyone who has created a personal account on the Terres Inovia website:
Terminal bud weevil tool
Flea beetle larvae tool

hey are also available in the form of an application programming interface (API) and can be used on other digital interfaces via the API-Agro platform.

You can watch or re-watch on Terres Inovia's YouTube channel the Thursday of October 14, 2021 dedicated to the presentation and demonstration of the flea beetle and terminal bud weevil risk estimation tools : https://youtu.be/jJfNLIdKdLA

To follow all the news of Cap Protéines : www.cap-proteines.fr