LEATHERJACKETS AND CHAFER GRUBS
The agronomic elephant in the room Dr Minshad Ansari, left, discusses the Leatherjacket and Chafer Grub problem with Scott MacCallum
The agronomic elephant in the room over the last 15 years has been what on earth will we do when chemicals we’ve relied upon for decades to ensure our turf can fight back against attacks from pests and diseases are removed from the authorised lists. We have benefited from the great
18 | Turf Matters | JULY-AUGUST 2019
work being carried out in laboratories across the world to replace those active ingredients, which are no longer with us, with alternatives which have often been more effective and better than what they have replaced. However, there is one area in which the loss of the recognised
chemical has had a major impact on the quality of turf greenkeepers and groundsmen have been able to prepare. Leatherjackets and Chafer Grubs are relishing the freedom that a chemicalfree playground has given them and the damage they are inflicting on turf is enough to reduce the most stoic of turf managers to tears. It has got so bad in recent times that an Emergency Summit was held by Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and CEO of Biomena, to pool all necessary expertise and look at what could be done to counter the Leatherjack and Chafer Grubs infestations. “I’ve been in the industry for 10 years now and seen the widening problem of Leatherjackets and Chafer Grubs but even I was surprised when I saw the damage caused by Leatherjackets at a golf club in Kent. Five greens were completely destroyed as a result of the damage,” Dr Ansari, told Turf Matters. “Whereas it was very easy to put the chemical pesticide into a tank and go off and spray the recognised active ingredients came off the lists in 2016 and there has been no alternative. The problem is going to accelerate if few don’t do anything,” he explained, of the imidacloprid and chlorpyrifos which have now been banned. A short term sticking plaster solution has been found with Syngenta receiving emergency authorisation }