The Egmond Lisianthus Nurseries in the Dutch town of ‘s-Gravenzande near The Hague have been using insect parasitic nematodes since 2015. It has reduced their use of chemical agents by no less than 90% and the young plants are more vital than ever.
Although their home market in the Netherlands is important, much of their Lisianthus plants are exported to Southern and Eastern Europe, South Africa, Tanzania, Israel and China. Annually more than 220 million plants are produced for these markets by Egmond Lisianthus Nurseries.
In the past, the young, fragile plants had been subjected to fungus gnats (Sciara) and shore flies (Scatella Stagnalis) while the range of chemical agents was much reduced over the years. At the end of 2015, the nursery decided to introduce nematodes under the supervision of Koppert consultant, Jenette Douma, who advised the use of Entonem and Capsanem. ‘We decided on a comprehensive approach and reduced our use of chemicals by 90%,’ says one of the four directors of this successful family company, José van Egmond. ‘Another advantage of using nematodes is that the young plants are much stronger now. Growing Lisianthus is no easy task, so the more vital the plant, the better for the end-growers whose demands grow daily. Our working methods are very strict. In this way, we get the best out of these two nematode products.’
For more information:
Koppert Biological Systems
info@koppert.com
www.koppert.com