Jansen Paprika

Bell Pepper

Marvin Koot, a technical crop protection specialist at Biobest Netherlands, has been consulting Jansen Paprika for years. Located in Andijk in The Netherlands, Jansen Paprika cultivates an impressive 25 hectares of red and yellow bell peppers. The company is a member of Growers United and is Planet Proof certified.

Together with Ron Jansen, co-owner of Jansen Paprika, Marvin has taken on the challenge of using as little chemical crop protection as possible in the 2023 season. And successfully so. This achievement was partly thanks to the use of the PATS-C solution.

The system was deployed in the fight against the Tomato looper (Chrysodeixis chalcites), a well-known pest in bell pepper. The caterpillars of this moth can quickly and extensively damage the crop. PATS-C recognizes and counts different moth species, keeping a precise track of activity and pest development. This allows for immediate response to impending infestations.

Photo: PATS-C at Jansen Paprika BV

Ron was very interested in PATS’s solutions at the beginning of 2023, particularly PATS-C. In the years before, the company regularly ran into problems with the Turkish moth. Sometimes this led to significant damage, caused by the caterpillars. At the start of last season, he installed this system in a 6-hectare section.

Ron Jansen’s experiences are very positive: “At this location, we were able to control the caterpillars completely biologically. So with fewer resources compared to previous years and without any significant crop damage.”

Thanks to the monitoring system, Ron was able to choose the right moments throughout the season to apply Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a biological agent against caterpillars.

Graph: The PATS-C dashboard shows the flight activity of the Turkish moth

Based on the graph in the PATS-C dashboard, three periods could be observed when the activity of adult moths increased: mid-June, mid-July, and mid-August. At those times, adult moths flew into the greenhouse from outside. Shortly after these surges of pest activity were detected, a Bt treatment was applied.

Because of this precise timing, the caterpillars came into direct contact with the product right after the egg stage and were unable to develop into moths. As a result, crop feeding damage was minimal, and new generations of the pest were cut off early.

Photo: The caterpillar of the Tomato looper can cause significant damage in bell peppers.

For the coming season, Ron and Marvin again aim to keep the caterpillars under control without the use of chemical pesticides. With the help of the PATS-C system, that will once again be a piece of cake.

And it’s not only the Turkish moth that is being monitored, other moth species don’t escape the ‘eyes’ of PATS-C either. For example, the Duponchelia moth, which at high populations can also pose a problem in bell pepper cultivation.