With 'Plant Armor' Crop Cover, Insects Have to Navigate Textile Maze
upstart writes:
With 'Plant Armor' crop cover, insects have to navigate textile maze:
North Carolina State University researchers designed a textile "Plant Armor" that forces insects to navigate a maze-like path if they try to reach a plant. The design was more effective at blocking insects from reaching cabbage plants in multiple experiments, compared with an alternative crop cover.
[...] Previously, plant covers have been designed to exclude insects based on size alone-like a window screen-researchers said. However, that strategy can be problematic for trying to keep out insects as small as tobacco thrips, which are about the size of a pencil point.
[...] To that end, the researchers designed a three-layer, 3D cover knitted using clear yarn in the outermost and innermost layers. The yarn, which can be made from recycled plastic, still allows sunlight to pass through but restricts insects from reaching plants. A knitted inner layer is sandwiched perpendicular to the two surrounding layers, creating a maze-like structure within the Plant Armor.
[...] When researchers tested how well they could protect potted cabbage plants inside a cage with unfed caterpillars, uncovered plants were infested and almost completely eaten, while plants covered and sealed with Plant Armor were not. They did not find a single caterpillar on the covered plants after 10 days.
[...] "Part of what we're doing is finding new, smart textiles," said study co-author Andre West, associate professor of textile, apparel and technology management at NC State and director of Zeis Textiles Extension. "We think this design could help farmers in extreme environments or where crop production is limited in certain areas. It could also be an alternative for organic farmers. Not only is the product itself made with some recycled materials, but it could also be recycled again."
Journal Reference:
Grayson L. Cave, Andre J. West, Marian G. McCord, et al. Novel 3-D Spacer Textiles to Protect Crops from Insect Infestation and That Enhance Plant Growth [open], Agriculture (DOI: 10.3390/agriculture12040498)
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