A new project focusing on onion thrips aims to fill the gap between finding new tools and integrating them into practical, regionally relevant crop protection programmes.
The Onions New Zealand-A Lighter Touch project builds on earlier work identifying biological and alternative products with potential for onions thrips control, shifting the focus from finding new tools to programme development and grower adoption.
Alongside Onions NZ, growers, advisors and crop protection companies will be involved in designing and refining the programmes, and the project will also deliver a structured extension, monitoring, and evaluation framework to support grower adoption.
Onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) is a priority pest and widespread across the three onion growing regions of Pukekohe, Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury. With regional differences in weather and pest pressure, crop management approaches need to be regionally relevant and adaptable across different farm systems.
An example of Onion thrips.
Thrips species are one of the highest-ranking crop protection gaps across all ALT sectors, and the project will provide other industries with insights that could be adopted in their sector not only for control of thrips but also development of effective extension tools.
Onions are a key export crop for New Zealand, and thrips impact crop performance, with feeding damage reducing plant vigour, and affecting yield and uniformity. Growers have a limited number of insecticides to use to control thrips and are constrained by resistance risk, evolving market expectations and potential limitations in product availability. Current thrips control is based on the sequential applications of agrichemicals.
Efficacy trials undertaken as part of the ALT programme have identified biological and alternative products with potential for thrips control but further work is needed on how to adopt and integrate these promising products on farm, at a practical level.
The involvement of growers, advisors and crop protection companies in developing integrated thrips management programmes will ensure they reflect real-world practice and are practical to implement.
Growers monitoring an onion crop for pests and diseases.
Along with early and ongoing engagement with growers, the design and evaluation of programmes will also include in-season demonstration of results, and post-trial evaluation of outcomes. The involvement of extension experts Scarlatti will strengthen this work, supporting the development of an extension roadmap and ensuring that learnings can be applied more broadly across the vegetable sector.
By improving understanding of how biological and alternative products can be integrated into effective thrips management programmes, the project will reduce reliance on a narrow range of chemical tools and support resistance management. It will provide growers with practical, validated options that can be confidently incorporated into existing programmes, improving both resilience and sustainability.
Onions thrips are a major pest for onion crops.
With A Lighter Touch ending in March next year, Onions New Zealand has committed to continuing to support further work on thrips management, including additional trials, extension, and product registration activities, ensuring that the benefits of this work are sustained and expanded over time.
For more information see the project page.
