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Hey, my name is Nick Volesky.
And I'm with the Utah State University Extension's
Integrated Pest Management program.
So it's August right now, and I'm out here
at a commercial farm at one of our trial sites,
looking at the effectiveness of trap crops.
So trap crops is growing a target crop
next to your main crop that is more
appealing to certain pests.
Trap cropping is a form of cultural control
within integrated pest management
that's not widely yet used here in Utah.
When used correctly, trap cropping
can be a sustainable and beneficial form
of pest control.
In this specific trial, we're looking at the effectiveness
of sunflowers as a trap crop for our commercial tomato
production to deter stinkbugs away
from causing any economic damage to our tomatoes.
Similar studies from Penn State University and Florida A&M
University showed that sunflowers
were attractive to stink bugs and other hemiptera species,
and reduced the markable damage to solanaceae crops.
There are several types of trap cropping, which
are characterized by the type of plant,
where the plants are grown within the farm,
and when they are planted.
Let me tell you about the different methods
of trap cropping.
A traditional and proven effective plant
is planted around or within the cash crop
that is more attractive to a target pest as either a food
source or for reproduction.
Our trial with the sunflowers and tomatoes
is an example of conventional trap cropping,
as we're providing the more desirable crop
to deter the desired pest away from our cash crop.
Dead-end trap cropping-- plants that
are attractive to a target pest, but on which offspring will not
survive.
Dead-end trap cropping serves as a sink
and prevents the movement of the target pests
to a cash crop later in the season.
Dead-end trap crops are planted in field borders or edges
where they intercept insect pests.
An example of dead-end trap cropping
includes the use of yellow rocket mustard plants
to attract the diamondback moths to lay their eggs on them,
instead of the cabbage.
Upon hatching, the larvae of the diamondback moth
will fail to establish and survive
on the yellow rocket mustards.
Genetically-engineered trap cropping.
Plants may be genetically engineered
to act as a trap crop.
Prevention of insect vector diseases is one example,
where the trap crop is capable of harboring a certain virus
but its insect vector cannot acquire it from the plant.
In this example, the trap crop helps
reduce the insect-vectored pathogens, as opposed
to the insect itself.
Genetically-modified potatoes that express the proteins
from Bacillus thuringiensis, Bt, will
be toxic to the Colorado potato beetle larvae
when they consume the foliage.
Growers may choose to plant the GM potatoes at the edges
and grow non-GMO potatoes as the cash crop in the center.
Perimeter trap cropping-- trap crops
that are planted around the border of the main crop.
A success story of this includes the use of hot cherry peppers
to attract the pepper maggots away from the desired bell
peppers.
Sequential trap cropping-- trap crops that
are planted either later or earlier than the main crop
to increase the attractiveness to insect pests
during certain times of the season.
An example of this includes growing the early season
potatoes that will be larger and more attractive
to Colorado potato beetles, protecting the younger, smaller
potatoes.
Multiple trap cropping-- planting several trap crop
species to manage several pests or controlling the target pests
by combining plants whose growth stages enhance attractiveness
season long.
An example includes corn and potato plants
combined as a trap crop to control wireworm populations
in a sweet potato field.
Push-pull trap cropping-- a combination system
where trap crop is planted around the perimeter of a crop
to attract the target insect pest to pull.
And a different plant is intercropped
to repel, or push, the insect away from the cash crop.
In Africa, a push-pull strategy uses Sudan grass
as a trap crop planted around the main crop,
and a molasses grass planted within the field
as a repellent intercrop.
Biological control-assisted trap cropping--
trap crops that are planted within and around the crop that
enhance populations of natural enemies that can help
suppress multiple pests.
For example, a sorghum trap crop used
to manage cotton bollworm also increases rates of parasitism
from various parasitic wasps.
Finally, semiochemical-assisted trap cropping--
the use of either manually hanging insect semiochemicals,
such as pheromones lures, on a perimeter planting
or using genetically-modified plants
that emit semiochemical lures to attract the target pest.
One of the most successful examples
of this is the use of pheromone-baited flytraps,
hung on perimeter trees acting as trap crops,
have been suggested for fruit fly
management in papaya orchards.
So there are several factors to consider when using trap crops.
The first is if the life stage of the insect you're targeting
will be able to be controlled by the stage of the trap
crop being grown.
Another factor is making sure you have enough trap crops,
and being sure that they're planted
at the right location and the right time of year
so they correlate with your cash crop.
So there are some limitations to trap cropping.
The first one being is that trap crops usually only target
one or a specific pest.
Another one could be that trap crops might end up
costing more money than traditional pesticides,
as they take up more land, water, and labor to use.
If you guys have any other questions about trap cropping
in Utah vegetable production, feel
free to contact me or check out our new fact
sheet on trap crops.
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