In Turkmenistan, 370 biological farms have begun work on breeding entomophagous insects to protect agricultural crops from pests. This was reported by Turkmenportal, citing the newspaper ‘Neutral Turkmenistan’.

Since mid-winter, biofactories, enterprises and laboratories, both state-owned and privately owned, have begun breeding beneficial insects. The main types of entomophages are lacewings and habrobracon. They are used to protect cotton at various stages of its development.

Biological methods are used in conjunction with agrotechnical measures. The main pests remain spider mites, cotton bollworms, tobacco thrips and aphids, which affect plants at all stages of growth.

To reduce the number of pests, plant residues are removed after harvesting and deep ploughing is carried out. During the growing season, along with insecticides and fungicides, organo-mineral fertilisers are used to increase the resistance of plants to diseases.

All plant protection products are registered with the State Commission and tested for effectiveness, taking into account the soil and climatic conditions of Turkmenistan.