EXploitation of Aphid Monitoring systems IN Europe
Environment Project EVK2-1999-00151
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EXploitation of Aphid Monitoring systems IN Europe |
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Scottish Agricultural Science Agency
Personnel (click for email): Dr. Jon Pickup The Scottish Agricultural Science Agency (SASA) is an Executive Agency of The Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department (SERAD). Previously, the Agency was known as Agricultural Scientific Services, or by the name of its location - East Craigs where, in 1925, the then Board of Agriculture for Scotland established its variety registration and seed testing station. The principal functions of SASA are to provide the appropriate scientific input (tests, diagnoses, analyses) for the implementation and enforcement of legislation and regulations in the areas of crops and environment protection, and to provide SERAD with information and advice to support policy in these areas. The work of the Agency scientists can be divided into six main, but largely inter-related areas: seed testing, variety testing, scientific support to the Scottish seed potato industry, plant health, disease and pest diagnosis, control of vertebrate pests, and pesticides. The work of the Virology and Zoology Section is concerned with the protection of crops from invertebrate plant pests. Technical support is provided to SERAD's Seed Potato Classification Scheme, to ensure that the high health status of the Scottish seed potato industry is maintained. The section is also concerned with the regulatory control of the movement of pests during the trading of host plants. The role of aphids as vectors of potato viruses is of major concern to the Scottish seed potato industry. The section operates a national network of suction traps collecting information on aphid abundance and movement which underpins advice on the risk of virus transmission and the need for aphid control. A development programme to improve our understanding of potato virus epidemiology is underway and has improved the accuracy with which virus levels in seed crops can be forecast. Four members of staff within the section are trained in the identification of winged aphids, and expertise exists to identify all aphids encountered to species level where this is possible using classical morphological taxonomy. Such precision, coupled with monitoring throughout the entire aphid flight season, is vital for collecting data for analyses of long term changes in relation to agronomic and environmental factors.
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