MASTER will produce a trans-European Phenological Model for rape
pests and their natural enemies.  For most partner countries, the phenology
for the six target pests is known, but there is little information on phenology
of their key natural enemies.  MASTER will focus on obtaining new and more
comprehensive trans-European information on the phenology of occurrence,
flight and activity of both pests and their natural enemies in relation to vulnerable
crop growth stages and to climatic/weather conditions. This information will
help define spray windows compatible with natural enemy conservation.

MASTER has a sub-contract with Pro_Plant GmbH to incorporate the
Phenological Model for natural enemies into their PC-based computerised
decision support system (DSS) Pro_Plant.  The PRO_PLANT DSS was first
developed for managing cereal diseases and later extended to cover growth
regulators in cereals, diseases in sugar beet, weeds in maize, potato late blight
and pests in oilseed rape. The PRO_PLANT DSS for Rape Pests already has
pest Phenological Models for the six key pests targetted by this project, based
on 8 years of field observations on the influence of the weather on their
population dynamics in different regions of Germany.  The program takes into
account numbers of adult pests, weather-based forecasts of flight conditions,
egg-laying periods and larval development. The models automatically collect
regional meteorological data via internet or home-run meteorological stations
to predict pest infestation and the need for control.  This phenology-based
strategy improves the basis for treatment decisions and optimises dates for field
inspection and insecticide application.  Experience in Germany shows that
PRO_PLANT’s new strategy has recommended fewer treatments than the
standard threshold-based control strategy; only 1-2 applications of insecticide
per season instead of the usual 2-3.  These pest models will be used as the
basis for the integration of the natural enemy models to be developed.