Eco-Friendly Gel Uses Worms Instead of Pesticides

A gel filled with nematodes has proven effective in safeguarding crops from pests, eliminating the need for harmful pesticides. These nematodes, typically unable to survive above ground, are the key component of this environmentally-friendly solution.

Nematodes are tiny roundworms usually located in the upper layers of soil, measuring no more than 2.5 mm in length. While certain types can harm plant roots, others offer beneficial effects.

Leveraging Entomopathogenic Nematodes (EPNs) for Sustainable Pest Control

Among these beneficial types are entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), which deposit their eggs inside insects. While laying these eggs, they release a toxin that rapidly eliminates the insect host. When targeting crop-damaging pests, farmers can introduce EPNs into their soil using a liquid solution as an eco-friendly alternative to pesticides.

Unfortunately, EPNs quickly perish when exposed to sunlight or drying conditions once removed from the soil. This limits their application to the plant leaves, the part most targeted by pests like the fall armyworm caterpillar, a significant threat to maize crops in Africa and Asia.

This is where the newly developed nematode-protecting gel comes into play.

Genetic Modification of Nematodes for Targeted Pest Control Using Hydrogel Formulations

Under the leadership of Patrick Fallet from the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, a team of scientists genetically modified a native Rwandan EPN (Steinernema carpocapsae) to target these caterpillars specifically.

The team then formulated a hydrogel containing the live nematodes within a biodegradable, non-toxic carboxymethyl cellulose gel matrix.

In field experiments in Rwanda, volunteers applied the gel to the maize plant’s whorl every two weeks using caulking guns throughout a single growing season. The whorl is the central point from which the plant’s leaves spread out as they grow.

Some maize plots received the commercial liquid nematode solution, others were treated with the conventional pesticide cypermethrin, and some were left untreated as control groups.

While all three treatments showed some efficacy against the caterpillars, the gel outperformed the others, reducing infestations by roughly 50% compared to the untreated plots. This led to an additional ton of maize yield per hectare in the gel-treated areas.

Fallet and his team believe that a commercial version of the hydrogel will be more cost-effective than traditional pesticides, pose no harm to humans or the environment, and prevent armyworms from developing resistance.

In a paper published in the journal PNAS Nexus, the researchers conclude that precisely formulated and easy-to-apply nematodes offer a highly effective, affordable, and sustainable alternative for controlling fall armyworm infestations.

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