The concept of farmer friendly insects is vital and keeps much importance in farmers’ lives. Farmers are the person who grows crops and makes them available for us. We eat food because farmers do hard work on farms day and night. So it is our ultimate need that crops must grow of the best quality and in reasonable quantity. For this purpose, one of the other important factors is the Beneficial insects. Beneficial insects provide the natural ecosystem services like biological control and coordination of pests, soil formation, nutrient cycle, maintaining soil moisture, pollination of plants, and much more.
The attraction of Beneficial insects towards the agricultural farms and fields also needs proper knowledge and expertise by farmers. This a kind of management technique to enhance ecosystems for increased crop production. Beneficial insects are sometimes known as Beneficial Bugs. In horticulture and gardening, pest control, habitat integration, and natural vitality aesthetics are the desired outcomes with Beneficial insects, and it is also used in organic farming. There has been a rise in the adoption of Organic Pesticides globally. Many companies who are specialized in biological pest control sell many types or species of Beneficial insects like greenhouses.
Also Read: The concept of Regenerative agriculture
List of Farmer Friendly Insects:
A Few names of Beneficial insects/ Farmer Friendly insects are listed below:
- Assassin bug
- Damsel bug
- Earwig
- Green lacewing
- Ichneumon wasp
- Mealybug destroyer
- Minute pirate bug
- Soldier beetle
- Syrphid fly
- Tachinid fly
- Trichogramma wasp
- Earthworms, ladybirds, spiders, etc.
Five insects that are a farmers friend are:
LADYBIRD
A ladybird beetle is known as the farmer’s friend. This is because it is believed in farmers’ theory that once the European farmers prayed to the virgin mary to help them out as the pest started eating their crops and destroying all their crops. Virgin Mary helped them by sending beetles on their crops, which ate the pests and saved the crops. From that belief, the ladybird beetle is the farmer’s friend. Ladybird beetles are male and female, both gender. They eat all pests completely and helps in saving the crops. They control the spread of pest who generally destroys the crops.
EARTHWORM
Earthworms are known as the best friend of farmers. It is one of the insects that live in land areas. It provides a multitude of major services and offers to develop soil quality, makes the soil healthy, and makes the plant healthy. The soil is the habitat for crops, and it also nurtures many organisms. An organism that may cause an adverse effect and cause devastating diseases to plants. Earthworms, by remaining in the soil, offer many benefits like increasing the nutrients available in the soil, which is very useful for the growth of the crops, better drainage, more stable soil structure, and all other benefits boom to the agriculture and farming.
Earthworms feed on plant debris, dead roots, leaves, grasses, manure, and soil. Nitrogen in the casts is already available to plants. They improve moisture in the soil, nutrients, soil structure, water movement, and plant growth. These are the indicators of a healthy soil system as well as a healthy agriculture system as a whole. Many farmers gather earthworms from different places and place them in their agricultural lands.
ASSASSIN BUG
The presence of an Assassin bug in your garden is very useful. Assassin bug is the wonderful beneficial insects that will hunt down and eat many of the harmful bugs frequently found in the gardens or fields, which reduces the need for manual or chemical pest control.
DAMSEL BUG
Damsel bugs are beneficial insects for the farm and the farmers. They increase soil quality to grow more crops and eat aphids, leafhoppers, plant bugs, thrips, and small caterpillars that can destroy the plants from their actual growth. Damsel bug causes no damage to plants and crops but beneficial in all respects. You can also attract Damsel bug in your garden by planting dill, fennel, lavender, coriander, or chamomile for shelter and food. Adult Damsel bug lay eggs on meadows grasses.
EARWIG
Earwig is a kind of insect that eats the eggs and larvae of other insects. Earwig is a scavenger insect. That means that they eat damaging plant pests like the notorious aphid. They are also great to have around if the farmers and agriculturists want to get rid of soft-bodied creatures like slugs. They are beneficial in compost piles and as predators because they eat nuisances like aphids, mites, undesirable nematodes, as well, as other insect larvae. These insects are very beneficial insects to the farmers and are omnivorous, and primarily feed on decaying organic matter as well as pest insects.
CONCLUSION
Different Farmer Friendly species of insects are available all around the world, and all have one of the other different benefits to the farmers and the land. Some are useful to increase soil nutrients. Others are useful to increase soil moisture; some insects are beneficial for pollination, fruit production for many plants, some are predatory or parasitic, and some kill pest insects.
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