Alberta scientists seek high-tech solution to protect crops from pests

Canola plants bloom in a pasture on a farm near Cremona, Alta., Friday, July 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Work is underway on a new method of defending Canadian farms against crop-destroying pests.

Scientists at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research and development centre in Lethbridge, Alta., are developing crop treatments with the goal of using nanotechnology to modify the DNA of destructive insects.

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Dr. Justin Pahara and his team aim to use the innovation to insert specific chemicals into lygus bugs, a common agricultural pest, to prevent them from eating crops.

They say plant-eating pests are responsible for the loss of 40 per cent of pre-harvest yields globally.

Using methods developed and tested at the University of Saskatchewan’s Canadian Light Source (CLS), Pahara’s team learned the bugs contain proteins that could one day be targeted for this purpose.

This directed method of pest control could do away with “carpet bombing” fields with harmful pesticides — chemicals that can kill lygus bugs, but all other insects too.

“The ‘spray-and-pray’ approach ends up also killing beneficial bugs such as pollinators, and predatory insects like spiders, wasps, and beetles that help maintain a healthy ecosystem,” said Pahara in a news release.

“We all need food, and if farmers cannot grow their products efficiently and make a living out of it, it’s a problem.”

The technology available at the CLS helped Pahara’s team explore how pesticides get into bugs in the first place and where those substances accumulate.

A piece of equipment called the BioXAS beamline helped them create X-ray images of cutworms and lygus bugs, which were then input into special software to create 3D models of them to get an even closer look.

“Designing new approaches is a very challenging problem and people have been working on it for decades, but with little success,” said Pahara.

“Ultimately, it’s our job at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to pass on what we learn to Canadian industry to solve key technical problems so industry can take over with less risks.”

Pahara adds the method could also help provide a new way of pest control for insects that have developed a resistance to conventional pesticides.

The researchers’ progress has already been published in the Canadian Journal of Chemistry.

In 2024, the Canadian agriculture sector generated more than $142 billion.

Pahara’s team is now expanding its focus into weeds and fungi pests while also beginning testing on the delivery of nanomaterials into insects.