953312 Integrated and biological pest management in horticultural crops

Type
Lecture and exercise
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Blümel, Sylvia
Organisation
Offered in
Sommersemester 2025
Languages of instruction
Deutsch
Content

Basic terms and the context of integrated and biological pest management in main horticultural crops with special emphasis on greenhouses, are introduced. Besides the crop damage, action thresholds, monitoring systems and preventive control measures of important horticultural pests their systematic classification, morphological characteristics and biology are treated. Biological control measures focus on beneficial arthropods, entomopathogenic nematodes, viruses and microorganisms, as well as on the interaction between crop, pest and beneficial organisms. Aspects of population ecology, the evaluation criteria for the selection of beneficial organisms, mass rearing methods and release strategies are presented and supplemented by case studies for pest control in greenhouses. Furthermore the use of beneficial organisms and of testing side effects of plant protection products on beneficials within the scope of integrated pest management are discussed. Finally Austrian and European legislation concerning the import, the authorisation and the release of beneficial organisms and the requirements for the quality control of mass reared arthropods are presented.

Additionally for the training part living specimen and microscopic slides of pests and beneficial arthropods for their identification based on morphological characteristics are used.
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Previous knowledge expected

Recommended Pre-knowledge:
Plant protection, general pest management, entomology, microbiology, horticulture
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Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Instruction of comprehensive knowledge about the biology and interaction of pests and beneficial organisms as well as the principle aspects and strategies of integrated and biological pest management in horticultural crops.
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You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.