89980 · UK public procurement notice

Cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB; Psylliodes chrysocephala L.) is a major threat to the UK oilseed rape (OSR) industry. Since the ban on neo-nicotinoids, the UK area of Winter OSR has progressively fallen year on year to the point that the future of this crop is now in doubt. We will work with a wide network of UK farmers (c. 200), drawn from those participating in the successful NIAB crowd-sourcing assessment (>1200 participants in 2019).

The project will combine focussed large-plot studies on-farm and at NIAB's OSR focus centre (Duxford) to evaluate the cost and impact of practical combinations of management as alternative approaches to neonicotinoids to control CSFB for WOSR production and the wider rotation. We will evaluate within farmer practise the cost and effectiveness of alternative CSFB management interventions, and the effectiveness of on-farm monitoring to guide decision-making, to limit the impact of CSFB for WOSR crops (yield and margin) and in the wider rotational context.

This project is closely allied with separate AHDB-funded work on the phenology and population ecology of CSFB, and a network of on-farm evaluation of changed management led by ADAS. This project will work closely with those project teams. We also recognise that there is a plethora of on-going work funded by the industry and farmers themselves, hence by integrating these projects, we are particularly seeking to co-ordinate existing resource to maximise benefit rather than to duplicate effort. We will work to improve information-sharing, co-ordination and collaboration across the agri-industry (within commercial and data protection constraints) as we continue to address the challenges of CSFB, together with changing weather patterns, on the establishment and management of Winter OSR.