Partner with Nature this macadamia season

At Koppert, we know that many of the challenges we find on farms already have a solution hidden in nature – we just have to find it! During the past few seasons, the Koppert South Africa technical team, together with industry partners, were hard at work developing commercial protocols for the macadamia and avocado industry. We did this by using biological control agents such as predatory mites and parasitic wasps.

We are excited to share that we have seen some incredible breakthroughs and part of the success has been the first commercial release of a parasitic wasp to destroy stinkbug eggs. We can truly say that the results obtained stunned both friend and foe! Test protocols were rolled out on commercial scale in all macadamia-growing regions of South Africa - Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal. The major pests tackled were thrips, MNB (macadamia nut borer) and stinkbug. To ensure a complete integrated pest management approach, our roll-out, and corresponding treatment approach, ensures that every stage of the macadamia’s development is effectively covered by biological control.

Continue reading the full article in Laeveld Agrochem GROEI Magazine