This week I’ve been thinking about pests and their future. We all know that pest are a big part of our lives and the ever shrinking “chemical toolbox” isn’t helping matters. We get asked “why haven’t we got a new insecticide ready yet?” Believe me when I say, we, and the rest of the industry, are trying. Corteva are there with their Isoclast chemistry but this can’t be a one stop shop answer to our prayers. The emptying toolboxWith the remaining chemistry we have at our disposal, the risk of building resistance is becoming ever closer to reality. Those of you familiar with blackgrass in arable crops will know all too well that in places, it’s resistant to nothing by glyphosate and we all know the direction that is going in. Atlantis is a great product and has done wonders for crops all over the world, but over-use has seen a steady build-up of resistance and it’s not just herbicides.So the question I’m asking this week is “what is resistance and how can you avoid it?”Getting technical, the…

Hi, for those that don’t know me, I’m Victor Juma, Business Manager for East Africa Ornamentals, welcome to my blog! Here I’ll explore topics, ideas and musings within the ornamentals sector that I hope you will find interesting. The thrip. Slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Most are 1mm long or less. I wanted to explore the different species and hopefully at the end of my first ornamentals blog you’ll be a little more enlightened.Different species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are predators. Unfortunately for you and for us, we know these insects well. They can destroy healthy crops in a frighteningly short amount of time. With more than 6,000 species, some are really important to understand so we can control the little blighters.Symptoms of thrips in your cropAdults are mainly flower-feeders but will also feed on stems and leaves of plants as well (greedy). Damage can show up in a number of ways:Discolouration…