The news out of the Agricultural Research Institute is good peppered with a rather large question mark. For foresters, the plague that is the garlic mustard plant has been an invasive, soil sucking mite that threatens to overrun everything in its path. But scientists say they have a new hero in the battle against garlic mustard – the weevil.

 Anyone who heard of or saw the devastation of the cotton crops in the South or who have fought of the weevil in their wheat or grain crops know that weevils aren’t heroes. They’re herbivores. And the plants they choose to eat, and eat until there are none left, are often ones we choose to grow.

 So why is it researchers think this weevil – specifically the C. scrobicollis weevil – is the remedy to a weedy blight? This weevil, unlike its destructive relatives, has one dietary staple. You guessed it – garlic mustard. The little bug eats at the root crown of the plant, sucking the very life out of it. That impedes the number of seeds the garlic mustard plant can put out. Where there are more weevils, garlic mustard could be thwarted before it has a chance to produce seeds, thus eliminating the invasiveness of the plant.

 It’s tough to say when, or if, the weevil will be released and expected to do what nature intended. For now, scientists are cautiously optimistic about the weevil’s ability to eliminate an invasive plant without the use of pesticides. Agriculture experts are hopeful. Still, more studies must be conducted on the weevil. The boll weevil, for example, destroyed cotton production by laying eggs on the plants, which then hatch and feed on the cotton plant. The destruction of this little pest is well documented: since finding its way north from Mexico in 1892, the US cotton producers lost $13 billion overall, and most recently $300 million annually.

 Does your agriculture insurance policy cover crop damage caused by insects? Review your policy regularly with your agriculture insurance broker to make sure you have protection from specific loss occurrences. Should a remedy such as a weevil become the antithesis of a cure, your insurance coverage should be adequate enough to cover the loss.

Flickr photo credit: Deanster1983

Filed under: Agribusiness by afis blogger