Families are being recruited as 'slug scouts' during half term as scientists work to fight back against the number one pest found in farmers' fields.

Children can request a free kit to trap and collect slugs from dark, moist spots in their gardens or from farmers' fields before posting them to researchers at the John Innes Centre (JIC) in Norwich.

The special mission will help experts develop novel methods of pest control, providing farmers with an alternative to using chemical slug pellets.

Schools have proved an enormous help in the past, with pupils teaming up to build special 'slimeries' where slugs gather and can be easily collected and sent in to benefit science. But more slugs are needed to continue the work, which is part of the UK Government-funded SLIMERS (Strategies Leading to Improved Management and Enhanced Resilience Against Slugs) project.  

"We received a terrific response when we put out calls for help last year," says Tom Allen-Stevens, the founder of the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN), which provides the kits.

"Our researchers now need more slugs and we're looking for special skills from those who volunteer to help this worthy cause. What we need are grey field slugs (Deroceras reticulatum) – the ones that really give farmers a headache. So we're calling on those who can identify the right ones to send them in.

"The weather might be a wash-out, but that means slugs will be on the move and putting the nation's food supply under threat. Isn't it better that these pernicious pests are gathered up to help the quest for new ways to control them?"

Those who sign up to become a slug scout will receive a free pack including:

• Full instructions on how to set up a slimery - where you attract and trap your slugs
• A slug identification guide
• Plastic containers into which you place your harvested slugs
• Postage-paid envelopes to send them into John Innes Centre or Crop Health and Protection (Rothamsted Research office)
• Tweezers to pick up the slimy pests
• A BOFIN pin badge, pen and leaflet.

The research being carried out will improve slug control, reduce pesticide usage and make sure more of the crops grown by UK farmers end up on consumers' plates.

Dr Jenna Ross OBE from Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) said: "Slugs are arable farming's biggest pest issue which, without adequate control, can cost the industry up to £100m every year.

"Farmers urgently need alternative control measures that are effective, sustainable, environmentally and societally acceptable, and economically viable. Researchers at CHAP and JIC are conducting vital research that will help us achieve this, but in order to succeed we need as many slugs as possible."

BOFIN provides members with all the support and resources needed to contribute to the projects. For help identifying which slugs to collect or to find out more about how to collect the slugs, please watch this video: https://youtu.be/ph9zI_p6gNY.

Anyone interested in becoming a Slug Scout should contact Skye  or Tom (info@bofin.org.uk) with their name and address or sign up at www.slimers.co.uk.

More information on the first-year results can be seen in this video: https://youtu.be/Oxki7QLNcVA