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Every pest has a natural foe, so all farmers have to do is carefully identify different breeds that don’t get on, a more natural solution for moving along unwanted visitors. Bugs like the Nesidiocoris, which likes nothing more than to eat the tomato- loving Tuta Absoluta moth. These moths are a farmer’s greatest danger to a tomato crop and can wipe out entire fields, so getting rid of them is essential. Prevention is always better than action.
But bugs are tiny so it’s not always easy for farmers to know when they have hungry unwanted visitors – and to be able to apply pesticide only when it’s needed. That’s why some farmers have started using traps doused in insect perfume that attract bugs and contain tiny cameras that take pictures so the farmer can see what’s happening and whether they need to take action. If it counts a lot of bugs in the trap the farmer will get pinged with a text message to alert them that there’s trouble.
Lots of different animals can pitch in on pest control, so some of our tomato farmers have built lizard and bat shelters, as well as boxes for birds like Blue Tits – a great way to control pests and provide safe habitats for endangered species.
Pests damage healthy plants and can wipe out yields, but the use of pesticides always has to be weighed against the greater environmental impact. That’s why our Knorr sustainable farmers do everything they can to keep their usage to the absolute minimum and they’ve already managed to reduce pesticide usage by 31% per farm since 2011.
