Potato growers and agricultural machine builders in Biddinghuizen have come up with a way to deal with colorado beetles without using pesticides.

Colorado potato beetles are a dreaded pest of potatoes all over the world. Now, scientists from the Max Planck Institutes of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam-Golm and Chemical Ecology in Jena have shown that potato plants can be protected from herbivory using RNA interference (RNAi).

The feared Colorado potato beetle could spend this winter inside potato fields, warns the Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA). This would be unusual. EVIRA official Raija Valtonen says that the risk is higher than before.