UC Davis: Sustainable Farming and Pesticides Reduction Research Underway

Photo: Agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen working with strawberries in a UC Davis greenhouse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Christian Nansen, the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology’s new agricultural entomologist, is using his international expertise to zero in on more sustainable farming systems, better food production and fewer pesticides.

“The agricultural sector in California is so exciting, because of its diversity and economic importance,” said Nansen, whose agricultural entomology expertise encompasses seven countries including his native Denmark. “Secondly, there is a strong spirit of innovation in this region, and I hope to contribute to the development of highly advanced crop monitoring systems and decision support tools, so that farming practices can become less reliant on pesticides.”

Nansen is focusing on four major themes: host plant stress detection, host selection by arthropods, pesticide performance, and use of reflectance-based imaging in a wide range of research applications.

Born and educated in Denmark, Nansen received his master’s degree in biology from the University of Copenhagen in 1995 and his doctorate in zoology from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark in 2000.

As part of his undergraduate studies, Nansen took time off to travel to Brazil to write a book about sustainable agriculture in rainforest areas. “In this process, I learned about the potential of honey bees as both pollinators of crops but also as ‘promoters’ more broadly of sustainable agricultural development,” Nansen said.

Nansen wrote his master’s thesis on honey bees: “The Apis mellifera Forging Response to the Pollen Availability in Cistus salvifolius.”

“Even though Denmark is a very small country (5 million people),” Nansen said, “it has been at the forefront of agricultural research and production for many decades. And growing up, my father took me on field trips and exposed me to farming systems.” In fact, young Christian earned his weekly allowance in the chicken business: he sold eggs to neighbors.

Phone App

“Sometimes, we can go further and actually develop tools or gadgets which end-users may find useful. As an example, we have developed a freely available phone app to optimize pesticide spray applications based on weather and spray settings. The main goal with this phone app is to guide farmers so that they obtain the best possible spray coverage--to reduce risk of pests developing resistance--and to encourage them NOT to spray pesticides under unfavorable conditions.”