Goal
To
improve
existing, and develop
new, biological control methods against mushroom pests.
State of the art biological control
The
only biological control agent commercially available to mushroom growers is the entomopathogenic nematode
Steinernema feltiae.
S. feltiae
can be very effective in suppressing sciarids.
However it has little effect on phorids and its efficacy against Sciaridae may be unreliable.
Predatory mites, Hypoaspis miles, have proven their efficacy
against sciarids in
glasshouse crops. Commercial
rearing and deployment systems have been developed for these mites.
