An increase in wireworm damage in agriculture is generally observed. Vegetables, (sweet) corn, potatoes and also barley are particularly affected. Wireworm samples from the most important arable regions of Switzerland are to be collected with the involvement of organic farmers and sent in for morphological identification. Knowledge of the dominant species in each case will help in the development of suitable control strategies. In strip trials, the sowing of a deflection crop and fungal products will be tested in potatoes and maize respectively. In separate strip trials, the influence of tillage after cereals will be investigated in more detail. Wireworms are said to be sensitive to tillage. The effect will be assessed in potatoes or corn in the following year.
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