Why insect netting?
What concrete benefits does insect netting provide you?
As a greenhouse grower, you invest in insect netting to keep your business resilient and profitable. But what exactly does this investment mean for your daily operations and results? Below, you’ll discover all the advantages that insect netting offers you as an entrepreneur, for your crop health, and your business efficiency. From direct cost savings to long-term benefits, we list all the advantages for you.
Increasing threat of harmful insects
Due to higher temperatures and climate change
Increase in disease vectors
Higher temperatures and changed precipitation patterns are favorable for viruses and lead to longer infection periods
Shift in cultivation areas: new regions also become vulnerable
Due to globalization and trade
Viruses can spread quickly in monocultures
Transport of vectors such as aphids and whiteflies
Intensive horticulture
Viruses can spread quickly in monocultures
Reduced genetic diversity allows viruses to affect large populations
Use of pesticides leads to resistance or death of natural enemies
High-value protected horticulture
Optimal climate control, but vulnerable to insect pressure
Modern protected cultivation excels in creating a controlled growing climate, essential for quality, efficiency, and year-round production. Yet one challenge remains persistent: keeping out harmful insects that increase risks and put pressure on yields.
Increasing threat of harmful insects
Modern protected cultivation excels in creating a controlled growing climate, essential for quality, efficiency, and year-round production. Yet one challenge remains persistent: keeping out harmful insects that increase risks and put pressure on yields.
Continent
North America
Europe
Asia
Africa
Australia / Oceania
Current risk of insect infestation (%)
20-30%
15-25%
20-40%
25-40%
10-30%
Expected increase (%)
10-25%
20-30%
15-35%
10-50%
10-20%
Numbers emphasize the importance of pest control and monitoring! Prevention is better than cure!
The harmful effect of insects
• Insects transmit viruses
• Feed on leaves
• Plants become sick and insects hinder plant growth
• Fruits become deformed and are often substandard, plant is less productive
• Excretions like saliva and droppings make the plant sticky and dirty
• Leaf symptoms vary from light, green spots to chlorosis (yellowing) or severe necrosis (tissue death)
Flea beetle
Aphid
Buttercup aphid
Western flower thrips
Whitefly
Leafhoppers
Scale insect
Duponchelia
Fruit fly
Green peach aphid
Leaf miner
Nazara
Nesidiocoris
Pepper thrips
Caterpillars
Scale insect
Silverleaf whitefly
Spider mite
Turkish moth
Tuta Absoluta
Bugs
Whitefly
Mealybug
Carrot fly
Threatening Income Loss = Risk x Harmful effect
Risk
Increasing chance of insect plagues
Insect risk depending on crop
Dependent on preventive measures
Less effective biological control
Less natural pollination
Harmful effect
Production loss
Lower yield per square meter
Lower quality -> product price
Too many biological pesticides
Labor for scouting, controlling, removing, disposing and destroying affected products
Insect netting: the reliable income insurance
- Physical barrier (diffuser) against flying harmful insects
- Best way to prevent pests, reduces risk of crop loss
- Lower risk of virus, bacterial and fungal infections
- Promotes healthier, more resilient, stronger and more productive crops
- With fewer pests in the greenhouse, growers save on chemical and biological pesticide costs, making production more natural
- Less chemical pesticides
- Less impact on pollinating insects and natural pest controllers
- Better for genetic diversity and resistance against diseases and pests
- Promotes use of natural enemies
- Better yield and crop quality (longer productivity)
- Less biological pesticides needed
- Fewer pest controllers needed due to reduced pest populations
- Reduces overall environmental impact of cultivation
- Crucial role in organic certification
- Future permanent choice
- Beneficial insects stay inside: pest controllers and pollinators
- Better maintenance of biological controller population
- Biological control proves more effective with insect netting
- Bumblebee behavior: Bumblebees have a strong tendency to explore and can easily find their way out if there are open windows or doors.
- Varying escape rates reported. In some cases, the percentage of escaped bumblebees can be significant, up to 30-50% in greenhouses without special measures to prevent escape.
- Harmful effect of bumblebee escape
- Reduced pollination
- Decrease in yield
- Impact on harvest cycle due to irregular ripening
- Resilient growing means increasing crop resilience and resistance
- Better resistant to biotic stress factors (living organisms such as insects, pathogens, etc.
- Abiotic stress factors such as drought, heat and soil problems
- Strong resilient plant efficiently uses resources Light, Energy, CO2, Water, Nutrients and Crop Protection Products
- Basis for the New Growing = Plant Empowerment
- Integrated, holistic growing concept
- Based on physics plant physiology
- Based on the natural strength of the plant
- Emphasis on: Lower insect pressure, yield reduction, Impact on harvest cycle due to irregular ripening
- Insect netting forms buffer against temperature fluctuations
- There is sufficient ventilation when the vents are fully open
- Use of insect netting reduces need for ventilation
- Lower energy costs for heating or cooling
- CO2 stays in the greenhouse longer
- Lower CO2 production results in less environmental impact
- Scouting for diseases takes less time
- Reduction in treatment or spraying of crops
- Less removing, disposing and destroying of affected products
- Less sorting work for affected products
- Reduced exposure to harmful chemicals
- Healthier work environment for employees in protected horticulture
- Insect netting stabilizes temperature and prevents climate extremes in the greenhouse, even in areas with extreme climate conditions
- More uniform airflow in the greenhouse due to "diffuser" effect
- Possibility to open ventilation windows further
Binding EU rules to reduce the risk and use of pesticides by 50% by 2030
How can we help you?
Curious about what Dutch Netting Systems can mean for your business? Contact us today!