Research to tackle virus yellows is proving valuable

摘要

High levels of virus yellows are starting to show in sugar beet crops following what one sugar beet expert calls "unprecedented levels of aphids" during spring.Aphids were migrating from the third week of March, following a mild winter with very few frosts, says Mark Stevens, head of science at the British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO). "Populations rapidly built, so we were seeing really high levels of aphids through the end of April, May and into early June, to levels I don't think I've seen before in my 32 years in the business."