Transcript:

Heres a program from our archives.ambience, Leaf HopperWe're listening to the highly amplified sounds of a Leaf Hopper, one of a family of insect pests which have ravaged rice crops all over the world. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.In China, farmers have found a way to control the Brown Plant Hopper without the use of pesticides.Daar: The Chinese are really master manipulators of beneficial organisms, including insects. They've been at this practice for about 2000 years because they've never had the economic base to introduce modern pesticides in massive amounts, so they've had to rely on their ability to manipulate the biological world.Sheila Daar is executive director of the Bio-Integral Resource Center. Daar: Well, in Southern China, the Brown Plant Hopper exists, but it's not considered a major pest. And the reason for that is that the Chinese farmers have figured out how to utilize spiders to control the Brown Plant Hopper. They use many techniques, but one of the most common is, before the rice patties are flooded or planted, they will place bundles of rice, either in teepee-like shapes or as rafts, just lay bundles right down on the ground, and then as they let the water in, spiders all run into these bundles. Then the farmers wade in and pick up the bundles and move them over to the sides of the patties where they're out of the reach of the water. And the spiders remain in these bundles, they'll reproduce in them. They just hide in those bundles. When the water is let out of the patty, or when cultivation is finished, then they will bring the rice bundles back in. And the spiders race out of the bundles, and move around looking for pests, insects, to consume. And so any Brown Plant Hoppers that are there on that new crop of rice are consumed by the spiders, and therefore they never become a pest. This archival program is part of our thirtieth anniversary celebration. If you want hear more, check out our podcast.