In the EIP-Agri Project Beneficial Flower Strips, the effects of flower strips for biological aphid control in adjacent pea and bean fields were investigated. The tasks of the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein in this project ranged from the composition of the mixture to the system and the botanical evaluation of the flower strips created.
The first areas were created in the greater Pasching area in 2019 and will be monitored continuously until 2021. The areas were laid out very well and all species from eleven plant families included in the mixture were able to establish themselves. In addition to the botanical evaluations by the HBLFA the landowners were also trained in how to address the species and were thus able to independently create a flowering calendar based on the chronological sequence.
Accompanying studies by the project partners Global 2000 and AGES Vienna showed that these flower strips are extremely attractive for flower-pollinating insects as well as predatory insects such as ladybirds and lacewings.
