Colorado beetle catcher deals with lazy potato pest

Potato growers and agricultural machine builders in Biddinghuizen have come up with a way to deal with colorado beetles without using pesticides.

Infestations by colorado beetles, a North American import, have been increasing because of rising temperatures. Its larvae can devastate a field of potato plants in a very short time. To remove the colorado beetle and its ravenous larvae, all the farmer has to do is to attach a machine with rotating plastic flaps to his tractor and swat them off the plants.

To remove the colorado beetle and its ravenous larvae, all the farmer has to do is to attach a machine with rotating plastic flaps to his tractor and swat them off the plants.

Ard Klompe of agricultural innovators FieldWorkers:
 

"They seem to be too lazy to come out and are content with munching on the leaves that have come off in the swatting process."

The new machine is a great solution for organic farmers but traditional farmers are interested too, as chemicals have been going up in price.

The Flevoland provincial authorities earmarked some EUR 100,000 (about USD 118,000) for the development of the beetle catcher. Five will be built this year and developers are hoping to double that number next year.