Summary
This work presents a trait-based laboratory screening method to identify cereal cultivar pairs that synergistically enhance pest resilience through bidirectional volatile organic compound signalling. Three-year field trials across six European countries demonstrated that only cultivar mixtures exhibiting two-way volatile interactions under controlled conditions significantly reduced aphid pressure compared to monocultures, without compromising yield or morphological plant traits. The approach provides a genetic selection criterion for cultivar mixtures to reduce reliance on chemical pesticide control.
UK applicability
The findings are relevant to UK cereal production, as aphid pressure and virus transmission are persistent agronomic challenges in temperate cereals. The method's efficacy was demonstrated across multiple European growing environments, suggesting applicability to UK conditions, though direct UK field validation would strengthen local adoption prospects.
Key measures
Aphid infestation pressure, natural enemy abundance, plant height, plants per metre, Thousand Grain Weight (TGW), crop yield
Outcomes reported
The study identified cereal cultivar pairs that reduce aphid infestation in field conditions through reciprocal volatile organic compound signalling. Field trials assessed aphid abundance, natural enemy populations, and plant agronomic traits (height, plant density, grain weight, yield) across three years.
Topic tags
Dig deeper with Pulse AI.
Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.