This project focused on validating agroecological and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches to crop protection for onions, vegetable and arable crops. The project’s activities include:

• upgrading the Metwatch onion downy mildew decision support tool to enable effective fungicide programming, and demonstrating and increasing grower use of the tool to manage the changing fungicide landscape;
• establishing a demonstration farm that incorporates crop rotation and enables crop protection extension;
• utilising the demonstration farm to share results, and host onsite field days and grower workshops.

The farm also hosts the biodiverse planting on vegetable farms project, which aims to manipulate the abundance of beneficial insects on vegetable farms to reduce pests in crops by adopting existing knowledge as proof-of-concept trials in New Zealand vegetable cropping situations.

Check our grower resources, read project updates, or watch a short video case study below:

• July 2023: Onion Thrips focus of upcoming spray use trials
• August 2023: Weather and disease tech to support crop management
• September 2023: Strong interest in IPM workshops
• November 2023: IPM workshops grow knowledge and marketable crop
• January 2024: Big thanks for demo farm support
• February 2024: Green vegetable bug focus of new project
• April 2024: Harvesting crops with a lighter touch
• June 2024: Grower endorses lighter touch crop management
• October 2024: Onion thrips trials explore best insecticide practice
• October 2024: Spring barley, broccoli and onions focus of IPM workshop
• February 2025: Stemphylium trial seeks alternative controls
• March 2025: Trap crop trialled as part of IPM solution
• May 2025: Beneficials manage aphids in spring barley
• June 2025: Promising start but low pest pressure impacts trial
• October 2025: Demonstrating IPM in multiple crops
• February 2026: Growers walk the talk of IPM in action
• March 2026: Demonstrating the impact of growing with A Lighter Touch
• May 2026: Biodiverse plantings alongside lettuce crop boost biocontrol 
• July 2026: Mobile biodiversity pods go global

A series of case studies from knowledge gathered from projects at the Pukekohe Research and Demonstration farm are being produced. Find case studies detailing the management of a spring lettuce crop, a pumpkin crop and a broccoli crop utilising integrated pest management (IPM) and biodiversity as key strategies, and a case study on using a trap crop in sweet corn below.

Download:

• the Case study: IPM and biodiversity in lettuce, Spring 2023 here.
• the Case study: IPM and biodiversity in lettuce, Winter 2024 here.
• the Case study: Trap cropping in sweet corn, Summer 2024/25 here.
• the Case study: IPM and biodiversity in pumpkin, Summer 2024 here.
• the Case study: IPM and biodiversity in broccoli, mid-spring 2024 here.