Beneficials on hemp: Biological control at work

Hemp, or industrial Cannabis sativa, is an emerging crop in the United States, especially in Tennessee, where ca. 3,800 growers have registered to produce ca. 51,000 acres of hemp in 2020. Our growers face many hurdles to producing a successful, healthy crop due to the lack of effective registered pesticides. Thus, they have to rely more on non-traditional methods of managing pest populations. Biological control organisms can reduce certain pest populations and reduce their damage to hemp. This infographic will introduce biological control and describe many of the natural enemies of insects on hemp. This type of information will benefit hemp producers enabling them to better include biological control into their pest management programs to improve crop production and profitability.