Trapping plant pests: a physical alternative to chemical pesticides
Chemical pesticides pose a huge threat to ecosystems, since they reduce biodiversity and disrupt essential ecological processes. They have also been linked to serious human health risks. With regulatory and societal pressure increasing, there is a large need to reduce the use of chemical pesticides in crop cultivation without a loss in production. The group of dr. Thomas Kodger, respected WUR scientist with over 70 published articles to his name, has developed a biobased alternative to chemical pesticides: a sprayable sticky liquid that can trap pests on the plant surface.
A new method was developed for making a sprayable liquid suspension with sticky oil-based particles in water. The oils used are vegetable oils, which makes this a biological method of protecting plants from pests. By only treating the oils with oxygen while heating and then cooling the oils in a controlled way, the perfect properties are achieved. This oil is then ground into particles and placed in water for spraying. The spray was found to be effective for capturing thrips, a common plant pest. This greatly reduced the damage caused by thrips to the crop.
What makes our product unique?
- Non-toxic
- From a biological source (biobased)
- Alternative to chemical pesticides
- Patented technology
High-potential applications
The technology can be used for protecting virtually any type of plant, including:
- Ornamental horticulture
- Horticulture edibles
- Arable crops
Development stage & collaboration opportunities
The technology is at TRL 4 and protected by IP. The sprayable suspension has been developed at a laboratory scale and has been tested on live Chrysanthemum plants for its ability to capture thrips both adult and larvae. Additional testing on tomato plants, including testing for the efficacy against additional pests, is under development. A parallel project has been launched to investigate the biodegradability of the spray in a natural environment.
WUR is looking for partners that are interested in licensing this technology, investors for further product development and (field) research collaborators.
Contact
Interested? Get in touch with:
dr. N (Nikita) Sajeev
Biotech Knowledge Transfer and Outreach officer
Publications & Patents
- Kodger, T. E., & Zwieten, R. van. (2024). Method for producing an aqueous suspension of adhesive particles for trapping plant pests (European Union Patent EP4356732A1).
- Zwieten, R. van, Bierman, T. V., Klinkhamer, P. G. L., Bezemer, T. M., Vrieling, K., & Kodger, T. E. (2024). Mimicking natural deterrent strategies in plants using adhesive spheres. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(21), e2321565121.