April 14, 2010 - Douglas researchers seek to control greenhouse pests without chemicals

Douglas College has been awarded a $200,000 grant to study the biological control of insect pests in B.C. vegetable greenhouses.

The award was made by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), under its College and Community Innovation Program.

The grant will support a two-year research project on the use of predators and parasitoids for the management of insect pests that cause annual crop losses in BC's tomato, pepper and cucumber greenhouses. The researchers hope to develop one or more new biological control products as well as to optimize the use of existing products for aphid and psyllid management. They will also develop molecular-biology tools for aphid parasitoid identification which could be used to facilitate research and practice of biological control in greenhouses.

Douglas College's partners in the research are: the BC Greenhouse Growers' Association, Applied Bio-nomics Ltd, the Bug Factory Ltd., Koppert Canada Biological Systems, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University, whose new insect biocontrol laboratory will be the site of much of the work.

The principal investigator is Dr. Robert McGregor of Douglas College's Biology Department, who has worked on biological control of insect pests for over 20 years. Other Douglas biologists on the research team are Dr. Lucia Fuentes, Dr. Todd Harper, Dr. Len Millis and Dr. Lynette Sigola.

Insects continue to cause problems in agriculture worldwide by feeding on and damaging crop plants. Pest species can be managed by using synthetic chemical pesticides or via ecologically based alternatives like biological control. In biological control, natural enemies of plant-feeding insects like predators, parasitoids and diseases are used to manage pest problems.

Douglas College became eligible to compete for NSERC funding in January 2010.

For Acting Vice President of Education Jan Carrie, this first award recognizes the high quality of Douglas faculty and their ability to pursue important research projects.

"This project will expand our research capacity, and open doors to more research opportunities for our faculty and our students," says Carrie. "We're keen to work with industry and community partners on new applied research leading to product or process innovation."

NSERC's College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program is designed to increase innovation at the community and/or regional level by enabling Canadian colleges to increase their capacity to work with local companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. It supports applied research and collaborations that facilitate commercialization, as well as technology transfer, adaptation and adoption of new technologies.

Douglas College is one of the largest colleges in British Columbia, providing a variety of bachelor's degrees, university transfer, career and developmental programs for over 20,000 students each year. The College is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

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