One mating disruption tube controls fruit borers

General News Jan 1, 1970 0 views

Right now, Beijing's "Okubo" peaches are beginning to hit the market, each one plump and juicy, making people's mouths water. If, when eating a peach, we find a plump little worm, it is almost certainly the peach fruit moth (oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta). And what peach growers worry about most is the appearance of the peach fruit moth in peach trees, because this pest not only has a huge impact on peach quality but also continuously affects the growth of the peach trees. So, besides traditional chemical control methods, what other methods are available? Well, there really is a new biological control technology - the mating disruption dispenser. Simply wrapping a small piece of plastic tubing around the peach tree can reduce the pest population density, thereby greatly reducing the use of pesticides - efficient and environmentally friendly.

Peach fruit moth larvae bore into shoots and fruit

Chemical pesticides are helpless against the pest

The peach fruit moth, abbreviated as "peach moth" and commonly known as the "shoot-boring worm," is a fruit tree pest found worldwide that can damage more than 20 kinds of fruit trees. In China, the damaged area in peach, pear, apricot and apple orchards alone reaches 40 million-50 million mu. The larvae of the peach fruit moth can damage the young shoots of peach trees; after being damaged, the young shoots quickly wither, and each larva can damage 3-4 new shoots. In severely affected areas, the damage rate of young peach shoots can reach more than 80%. The larvae can also bore into the fruit to cause damage; the galleries contain silk spun by the larvae, and the fruit-boring rate can reach as high as 80%-90%, seriously affecting peach tree growth and the yield and quality of the fruit, bringing heavy losses to fruit growers.

For a long time, the peach fruit moth has mainly been controlled with chemical pesticides. However, because the pest bores into the interior of the fruit, chemical pesticides can hardly reach it, so the control effect is unsatisfactory. In addition, as pest resistance increases, the number and concentration of chemical control applications keep rising, which not only rapidly increases control costs but also, by killing large numbers of natural enemies and beneficial insects, severely damages the ecological environment; pesticide residues and soil pollution reduce the safety of the fruit, and have already seriously constrained the healthy and sustainable development of Beijing's large peach industry.

Mating disruption dispensers interfere with information recognition

Making males and females lose their sense of direction

In order to screen biological control technologies that can replace chemical pesticides for controlling the peach fruit moth, in recent years the Beijing Plant Protection Station has carried out research on the application of sex pheromone mating disruption technology to control the peach fruit moth in peach orchards in Pinggu District. As everyone knows, mating between female and male insects in nature depends on the sex pheromone released by the female to attract the male. Sex pheromone mating disruption technology puts artificially synthesized, high-concentration sex pheromone into small plastic tubes and hangs them on tree branches, so that the orchard becomes a maze filled with the scent of "beauties," attracting males to come. But when the males arrive, they cannot find the females in the maze and cannot mate, so the offspring are reduced and the pest population density drops. This small plastic tube is called a mating disruption dispenser. This technology has the advantages of strong specificity, low toxicity to humans and livestock, no contact with fruit, no environmental pollution, and no harm to natural enemies.

Simple to operate and long-lasting

The appropriate control period is very important

So, how is this mating disruption dispenser used? Under normal conditions, the effective period of the mating disruption dispenser in the field is about 6 months, and it only needs to be hung once per growing season. Each time, hang 40 per mu, hung evenly in a crisscross pattern according to the number of fruit trees per mu; the number hung can also be increased or decreased accordingly based on the actual pest population density in the orchard, but the number hung per mu should be no fewer than 35. Note that along the outer boundary of the entire control area, on steeper slopes and at the edges of the main wind direction, 2-4 rows of trees (adjusted according to plot size) should be hung at double the rate. In addition, when using mating disruption dispensers to control the peach fruit moth, it is very important to seize the appropriate control period. Use should begin before the overwintering generation of adults emerges and when the pest population density is relatively low, and continue until the end of the emergence of the third-generation adults; in the Beijing area this is generally from April to September. The application area of mating disruption dispensers should be more than 50 mu, and the larger the area, the better the effect.

Using mating disruption dispensers

Pesticide use in peach orchards drops sharply

After several years of investigation and research, it was found that sex pheromone mating disruption technology can achieve a mating disruption rate of 84.6%-100% for adults of each generation of the peach fruit moth, a control effect of 77.78%-92.31% against shoot damage for each generation, and a control effect of 83.33% against fruit damage, meaning the fruit-boring rate can be kept below 1%, and pesticide use in the orchard can be reduced by 2 applications per year. Therefore, using mating disruption technology can effectively interfere with the mating of the peach fruit moth, reduce the population size of offspring, thereby reducing its damage, increasing large peach yields, improving fruit quality, and recovering losses for fruit growers. Applying sex pheromone mating disruption technology can reduce chemical pesticide use by 3 applications per mu, reducing pollution to the environment. Hanging mating disruption dispensers, one person can complete 30 mu per day; spraying chemical pesticides, one person can complete 5 mu per day, thus reducing pesticides while also saving labor costs.

One mating disruption tube controls fruit borers

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