POSTER: “Raps-OP” or: three years results of nurse crops in oilseed rape to avoid Psylliodes chrysocephala and Ceutorhynchus ssp.

Abstract: From sowing 2021 to harvest 2024, oilseed rape cultivation trials were conducted at
five locations in northern Germany under the project title “Raps-OP” (Raps-OpferPflanzen).
The aim was to use nurse crops to negatively influence the colonization of oilseed rape by insect pests. In addition to the untreated and insecticide-treated oilseed rape control, camelina, early rapeseed, turnip rape and a mixture of cress, oil flax, box horn clover, buckwheat and white clover were grown with oilseed rape. The infestations by Psylliodes chrysocephala larvae and larvae of Ceutorhynchs spp. were recorded. Different nurse crops at different trail stations produced widely varying results for P. chrysocephala and Ceutorhynchus infestations. Yield effects could not be determined on average over the first two years of the project period. The data show a site-specific potential for the “camelina” and “mixed” varieties. For further trials, these should be tested more intensively, especially on bigger scale areas.