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Download PDF A new insight into the behaviour and movement of slugs begs the question whether overall molluscicide treatments are sometimes more what’s actually needed to suppress pest numbers. CPM explores where this research may lead in practice. 80% of slugs stayed very close to their release point. By Lucy de la Pasture You could say changes to management practices to control slugs have been about as sluggish as the pest itself – with very little in the way of innovative applied research for decades. An AHDB-funded project underway at Harper Adams University has bucked that trend and is investigating the basis for a much more targeted approach. The foundation for the project was a PhD which confirmed that sluggy patches in fields were stable, explains Charlotte Rowley, who manages pest research at AHDB. “The initial work opened up the possibility of a more precise approach to slug control which would help safeguard ferric phosphate and increase the viability of options associated with higher treatment costs, such as biological control.” Slug damage is known to often occur in patches within the fields, but this study is the first time that research has sought to understand why this is. Author of…
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