b'A look at seed industry developments around the globe.Rwanda, Sudan, and Zambiapyrethroids has already beention to electricity generation STATUS SUB- found very little evidence thatreported for fall armyworm inrises.SAHARAN AFRICA populations were isolated,China, so is highly likely to beHowever, solar parks take A new study has raisedaccording to lead author Amypresent in Africa, she added. up a lot of land, and as more fears that populations of anWithers, who is a PhD studentThe fall armyworm wasparks are created to meet invasive insect responsibleat Rothamsted Research andfirst recorded in Nigeria justclean energy demand that it is for billions of dollars of lostLancaster University. five years ago, but it has sinceimportant to look at how they harvests across dozens ofFall armyworm are usingspread throughout sub-Saha- can be used to bring about African countries have formedlong-distance flight andran Africa. other environmental or com-one intercontinental super- prevailing winds to frequentlyThe voracious caterpillarsmercial benefits.population. move throughout Africa,of the moth cause millionsOne opportunity is to This interbreeding ofleading to population mixing.of tonnes of crops to be lost,install honeybee hives on solar fall armyworm populationsUnderstanding the migratoryresulting in huge economicparks. A lot of solar parks are increases the chances thatroutes of this moth is impor- losses as well as food short- located in areas of intensive should pesticide resistancetant as these can be used toages. agriculture where many wild emerge anywhere, it will likelypredict areas at risk and giveThe migratory speciespollinator habitats have been spread quickly throughout thefarmers warning for earlyis found in parts of Northlost or degraded. Honeybee whole of Africa. intervention techniques. America where populationshives provide ready-made The research into theThis is an important find- overwinter in Florida andarmies providing a pollinat-genetics of populationsing as insecticide resistanceTexas, before flying as far asing service to increase crop from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,to organophosphate and300 miles north in the spring. production in surrounding farmland. Although some honeybee hives have been STATUS UK used on solar parks, the The value of UK agriculturepotential economic benefits of could be boosted by mil- this were, until now, unknown.lions of pounds a year ifThe research team used thousands of honeybee hivesdetailed land cover maps, were deployed on solar parkssuch as those produced by across the country, a newthe Centre of Ecology and study reveals. Hydrology, to understand However, scientists cautionwhere solar parks are located, that the benefits of managingas well as crop distribution solar parks for wild pollinatorsand rotations, existing data on over honeybees should behoneybee hives, crop pollina-prioritised where appropriatetion requirements and crop and should be assessed on avalues.site by site basis. They also factored in the A team of researchers fromcost of installing and manag-Lancaster University and theing the honeybee hives on the University of Reading has forsolar parks.the first time quantified theUsing crop distribution potential economic benefitspatterns in 2017, the research-and costs of installing hon- ers found that deploying eybee hives on solar parkshoneybees on solar parks across the UK. could have raised the value of Solar parks are playing ancrop yields that year by 5.9 increasingly important rolemillion. SWin their national shift towards carbon zero as their contribu-76/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2022'