A UNIVERSITY student has started a three-year study into how the humble ladybird could reduce the use of insecticides on fruit crops.

Alice Mockford, of the University of Worcester, is researching how natural insect predators –like the ladybird – could reduce pests without the use of chemicals.

The PhD student's research is based in the orange orchards of Huelva, Spain, and is funded by the University, along with fresh fruit supplier Primafruit Ltd and Waitrose.

It is hoped her research may give fruit growers the chance to reduce negative impact on the environment, while still growing high-quality fruit.

Ms Mockford, who studied insects at Cardiff University, said: "I am very excited to be involved in this novel project and to be researching a topic which can have an impact on such an important agricultural system.

"Over the past century many ecosystems have been modified through intensive farming and urbanisation, and as a consequence we have lost some of the natural services that support agricultural production, like pollination and pest management by natural enemies.

"We want to harness these natural enemies to reduce the need for insecticide use in the future."

As part of her research, Ms Mockford will grow strips wildflower habitat and grass in the orange orchard and observe the impact it has on the orange crops.

She will combine field work with laboratory studies, and hopes to develop the best method for reducing pests in crops.

"By creating new habitat in otherwise intensively managed fields we can alleviate some of the pressures that farming has on the environment, and by doing so, restore some of the services that environment should provide naturally," she said.

"Our reliance on insecticides is not sustainable, but the creation of new habitat to support natural enemies of insect pests will make cropping systems more robust and more resilient."