Insect pest (thrips) control by pollinator mediated dissemination of biological control agents for greenhouse strawberry production and quality

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New technologies in biological control are being increasingly accepted and used in food production for quality**and reduced chemical residues. Pioneered in Canada, the use of managed pollinators (honeybees and bumble**bees) for disseminating biological control agents to flowers of crops to protect against fungal pathogens is**gaining commercial acceptance in North America and Europe. The technology, called apivectoring, can be**applied to the newly emerging commercial production of soft and tender fruits in greenhouses to address the**emerging problems of insect pest control. Thrips are a problem in greenhouse crop production. By using**organically certified biological control agents that are effective against thrips and that are carried to strawberry**flowers by the already needed and managed bumblebee pollinators, a new application for apivectoring is**proposed. Experiments in commercially operated production greenhouses will test the potential for use of**apivectored biocontrol agents against pestiferous thrips while testing the potential for production of high**quality fruit through improved pollination services.