Trichogramma application
We apply Trichogramma parasitic wasps to your maize fields by multicopter, with precision and full documentation from enquiry to end-of-season report.
How it works
Step 1
You give us a rough estimate of your maize area. You get access to our portal and enter your fields there, usually by the end of May; until then you can change them. We check location, terrain and timing, and agree on the scope and funding option with you.
Step 2
We supply the Trichogramma capsules, so no separate order with a beneficials supplier is needed. On the scheduled flight days our multicopters apply them over your field in the required grid.
Step 3
You export the application record, with every application per field, yourself from our customer portal, for your own funding paperwork and your season records.
Application schemes
We apply Trichogramma in three established schemes. Which one suits your farm is something we settle with you before the operation.
How the method works: biology, timing and trial results →Scheme 1
220,000
Trichogramma / ha
Suitable under low to moderate pest pressure, typically in the univoltine corn borer range (northern and central Germany). One flight, a higher count per date.
Eligible for KULAP, not for FAKT II E4
Scheme 2
2 × 110,000
Trichogramma / ha
Spread across two flight dates roughly two weeks apart. Recommended where the share of maize or the pest pressure is high. Covers several hatching waves. Mandatory for FAKT II in the two-date variant.
Eligible for FAKT II E4 + KULAP
Scheme 3
330,000
Trichogramma / ha
For the bivoltine Upper Rhine region (Lörrach, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Emmendingen), where a second corn borer generation occurs. A total of 330,000 Trichogramma / ha, either as 3 × 110,000 across three flight dates over the season or as 220,000 + 110,000 across two. LTZ Augustenberg and the German Maize Committee (DMK) recommend three applications over the season against this race.
Eligible for FAKT II E4 + KULAP
Our multicopters apply Trichogramma capsules. Custom fillings are available on request, for example with other Trichogramma species or a different number of eggs. Hanging cards cannot be applied by drone; they are hung in the field by hand.
Technical sources
Funding available
Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria fund Trichogramma application in maize as an agri-environment measure; Rhineland-Palatinate has two separate routes. Your farm submits the application itself. As proof, the funding bodies mainly ask for the proof of purchase for the Trichogramma: that is our invoice, because we buy the Trichogramma and apply them for you. Our application record supplements it.
Baden-Württemberg
Funding for biological corn borer control with Trichogramma. Requirements: two documented applications per season and proof of purchase of the beneficials. FAKT II has a minimum grant of €250 per farm and year across all FAKT II measures.
Funding and payment application in the Gemeinsamer Antrag by 15 May (FIONA). The deadline does not move to the next working day (§ 6(2) GAPInVeKoSG).
As at: 17 October 2025 and 1 June 2026 (MLR Baden-Württemberg); § 6 GAPInVeKoSG: version of 10 August 2021, accessed 10 October 2026
Bavaria
Use of Trichogramma in maize across the farm’s entire maize area. Minimum application of 200,000 beneficials/ha. All three of our application methods meet this minimum. Farms with at least 3 ha of eligible land can take part; above 100 ha the grant is reduced in stages.
Commitment period for a 2026 start: 01.01.2026–31.12.2029. The 2026 application window has closed. On 31 July 2026 the StMELF announced that it will offer the measure again unchanged in 2027, with applications in early 2027; the dates have not been published yet. Invoices stating an absolute number of beneficials, frames or capsules go to the AELF by 15 November.
As at: December 2025, 31 July 2026 and 2 October 2026, accessed 10 October 2026 (StMELF), October 2026 (TB Copters)
Rhineland-Palatinate
Corn borer control with Trichogramma parasitic wasps on arable land, a five-year commitment under the CAP Strategic Plan for Rhineland-Palatinate 2023–2027. During the commitment, no chemical products against the corn borer on any of the farm’s maize fields.
The measure takes no new commitments for 2027; existing commitments continue to be paid. Without a commitment, the Land pays a trial compensation (Versuchsentschädigung): there is no fixed rate, and you apply through the DLR after the season. For the 2026 season, the deadline is 13 November 2026.
As at: April 2023, September 2026 and 11 September 2026, accessed 5 October 2026, and the 2026 application form (DLR Rhineland-Palatinate)
Outside Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate, no German state currently has an agri-environment measure for Trichogramma in maize. “KULAP” means something different in Brandenburg and Thuringia than in Bavaria, and it does not fund Trichogramma application there.
Application record
We buy the Trichogramma and apply them for you, so you get both from us: our invoice, which is your proof of purchase for the Trichogramma, and the application record, a table of every application per field that you export yourself from our customer portal. The record supplements the invoice and the documents you keep yourself, and replaces none of them.
For each field it shows:
What the programmes ask of you:
Proof of purchase for the Trichogramma and two applications.
As at: 1 June 2026 (MLR Baden-Württemberg)
Copies of the invoices for the Trichogramma, every year by 15 November at the AELF, stating an absolute number of beneficials, frames or capsules.
As at: December 2025 (StMELF)
The purchase receipts for the Trichogramma and your own records; the DLR’s fact sheet names their absence as the typical failure.
As at: 11 September 2026 (DLR Rhineland-Palatinate)
The completed survey form, including the infestation assessments, and the invoice, after the application, through the DLR.
As at: 5 October 2026 (accessed) and the 2026 application form (DLR Rhineland-Palatinate)
The responsible authority decides what is sufficient.
Operating window
Our multicopters fly in dry weather and calm wind; in rain or strong wind we postpone to the next suitable window. We plan the dates roughly in advance and fix them at short notice depending on the weather. What happens when:
Tell us your rough maize area for our planning; an estimate is enough.
Enter your fields in the portal; until then you can change them.
Application.
An email from us before our pilots come to your fields.
At the start of the corn borer flight, as the official warning service reports it, supplemented by our own traps and temperature stations.
Twelve to fourteen days later (LfL Bavaria); LWK NRW gives ten to 14 days.
Two corn borer generations a year; LTZ Augustenberg gives three applications over the season there.
Gemeinsamer Antrag by 15 May. The deadline does not move to the next working day (§ 6(2) GAPInVeKoSG).
MLR Baden-Württemberg · As at: 17 October 2025
Invoices stating an absolute number of beneficials, frames or capsules go to the AELF by 15 November.
StMELF · As at: December 2025
The window for a 2026 start ran from 14 January to 24 February 2026. On 31 July 2026 the StMELF announced that it will offer K54 again unchanged in 2027, with applications in early 2027; the dates have not been published yet.
StMELF · As at: December 2025, 31 July 2026 and 2 October 2026, accessed 10 October 2026
Other services
Besides Trichogramma application, we check other drone work on request.
We do not offer area-wide application of plant protection products from the air. In Germany it is prohibited without an official permit (§ 18 PflSchG; exceptions are limited to steep-slope viticulture and forest canopies).
Sowing cover crops by drone into the standing crop, with no tramlines. On request, depending on region and season.
Application of plant protection products by drone only in steep-slope vineyards, and only with the permit required under § 18 (2) PflSchG.
Common questions
Contact
Phone
+49 1525 9115681Mon–Fri, 8 am–6 pm
Address
TB Copters GmbHWilhelmstraße 3471034 Böblingen