A spider web in a field. Photo by Pixabay
What’s the best way to control bugs on a farm? More bugs, of course!
Specifically, bugs (and birds) that feast on crop-eating pests keep the uninvited critter populations under control:
- “Birds, spiders and beetles among other invertebrate predators…helped reduce pest populations by more than 70 percent, while increasing crop yields by 25 percent” in research conducted in the United States, Brazil, and the Czech Republic
- Birds and predator bugs are most effective in regions with rain variability
- Just one regionally-active predator species can be as effective as multiple, depending on the region and local climate
The findings are really exciting and offer more options for reducing pesticide use in the agricultural sector.
Dig Deeper: Read the full story from PhysOrg.