Use of synthetic pheromone of Tuta absoluta for integrated protection of tomatoes in protected ground

Tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta is a pest Solanaceae crops, characterized by a high reproduction rate, rapid adaptation to changing environmental conditions and resistance to chemical insecticides. Its main hots plant is tomato. The species is characterized by high harmfulness both in the region of origin (South America) and in the vast territory of its secondary range, which in recent years has been formed due to the intensive development of international trade relations. In the Russian Federation, Tuta absoluta was first detected in Krasnodar Krai in 2011, and later its harmfulness was reported from Crimea.

The main control method for the tomato leaf miner is the use of chemical insecticides, which, though, have a negative impact on the environment. An alternative method of reducing the number of pests in greenhouses, which allows limiting or completely eliminating the use of insecticides, is the use of synthetic pheromones for mass capture or disorientation of the pest.

The article provides the results of field trials conducted on tomato crops in protected ground conditions. The effectiveness of the control of T. absoluta by the disorientation and mass trapping method using a synthetic sex pheromone, acetate E3, Z8, Z11-tetradecatrien-1-ol synthesized in FGBU “VNIIKR” is shown. The effectiveness of using the disorientation and mass trapping methods was 92 and 61%, respectively, and their biological effectiveness was 80 and 45%, respectively. The results of the studies on increasing the tomato yield and quality using the T. absoluta sex pheromone are presented. The quality of tomato fruits in the disorientation variant reached 97%, and in the mass trapping method – 81%, while in the control this indicator was equal to 66%. The use of the disorientation and mass trapping methods led to 18 and 12% increases in tomato yield, respectively, compared to the control variant.

The disorientation method and the mass trapping method can be recommended for use when growing tomatoes in protected ground conditions in order to reduce the number of T. absoluta in plantings. As an element of the integrated pest management, the use of pheromone traps can be combined with either chemical or biological agents that are approved for use in protected ground conditions.

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