Help required for winter Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) vector monitoring

A new AHDB-funded project led by ADAS is aiming to monitor cereal aphids and BYDV populations on farms and compare these with publically available data from the suction trap network. The aim is to examine whether the data collected from each suction trap are dependable and representative of populations detected on farms, and to further investigate whether this dependency is influenced by farm distance from the suction trap.

Sites will be monitored at intervals of 10, 20, and 40 km distance from the suction traps, with aphid counts and BYDV infection compared with data obtained from the local suction trap. The end goal is to produce a model based on this data which will form the basis of a decision support system.

Sacha White, ADAS scientist who is leading the project, said: “With the loss of seed treatments, chemical control of BYDV will rely on foliar insecticides.  This means that improving monitoring and ways of gauging the need to spray will be crucial for providing effective control of the virus.”

ADAS are currently looking for wheat/barley fields located within 40 km of the suction traps listed below to act as monitoring sites for the first phase of this project:

• The Newcastle/Northumberland trap (NE61 3EB)
• The Starcross/Devon trap (EX6 8PF)
• The Broom’s Barn/Suffolk trap (IP28 6NP)

If you farm within 40 km of any of these traps, have a winter cereal crop emerged in October, and want to be involved in the project and learn more about BYDV pressure in your field, then please contact Sacha White (Sacha.White@adas.co.uk) and Daniel Leybourne (Daniel.Leybourne@adas.co.uk) with farm location details.