Strategies Leading to Improved Management and Enhanced Resilience against Slugs (SLIMERS)

The proposed industrial focused research project utilises the consortium's unique expertise and capabilities to develop **cost-effective digital autonomous slug monitoring, forecasting and precision treatment tools,** thus delivering on-farm game-changing solutions to benefit farmers across England.

Slugs are major economic pests causing £43.5M crop damage/annum for wheat and oilseed rape in the UK. Traditionally, chemical slug management relied on metaldehyde/methiocarb, however, these actives were banned in the UK due to their impact on the environment. To date, ferric phosphate is the only remaining active chemical molluscicide, but certain pellet ingredients have been noted as impacting earthworms and, when consumed in large quantities, can poison pets.

Bio-molluscicides are also available but are uneconomical for use in arable and oilseed systems. Without chemical molluscicides, AHDB estimates total average annual cost to UK crop production \>£100M. Therefore, enhanced stewardship and monitoring is essential.

Current monitoring protocols use in-field refuge traps (e.g. plant saucer with bait). Farmers must examine traps regularly, conduct slug counts and compare to AHDB thresholds limits. However, many farmers are not carrying out this laboursome key practice, resulting in unnecessary chemical molluscicide applications. Therefore, precision services are needed to reliably reduce slug pellet usage and implement alternative, biological control in an economically viable way.

The outputs of the project have the potential to have a significant impact on the UK economy by helping farms achieve increased yields, productivity, sustainability, net zero targets, environmental benefits and resilience, through enhanced digital autonomous slug monitoring, forecasting and control.