Pheromone-Based Trapping Technology for Insect Pest Management in Vegetable Crops: Mini Review

Abstract

The vegetable farming communities in India and elsewhere in the tropics are in urgent need to adopt safer alternative pest control technologies so to replace chemical insecticides use so to ensure marketability and better margins from their crop produce. Of course, other bio-intensive methods like release of mass produced insect biocontrol agents like Trichogramma and wider choice among biopesticides-both botanical and microbial-are already locally available and adoptable as ecosafe pest control options. The present mini-review is on recent and ongoing R&D in vegetable insect pest trapping systems, which includes choice of more efficient trap designs and lure dispenser options for moth pheromones and blending of para-pheromone-lures to trap Tephritid fruit flies for pest monitoring and mass trapping purposes.

The adult moths of a wide range of caterpillar pests attacking our vegetable crops as borers and defoliators need to be more efficiently trapped for monitoring or mass trapping impact. Our research has shown the need and scope to select more appropriate trap designs so to maximise the moth catches. Clearly the funnel /sleeve traps are superior for trapping the stout- bodied (Fam:Noctuidae) moths like Helicoverpa and Spodoptera, whereas the same trap type is very inefficient for the smaller sized (Fam:Crambidae) moths like Leucinodes (on brinjal). To tackle this constraint, improved Delta traps (design patent approved as Delta Plus) have been developed ,which feature extra access windows on sides ,so to attract more moths and to also minimise male moth escape from the trap vicinity.

The future R&D thrusts may include other smaller moth families as Plutellidae (eg. Plutella xylostella) and Nolidae (eg. Earias vitella), Such species coverage to also be extended to comparing the two major fruitfly species complexes led by Bactorcera dorsalis and Bactrocera cucurbitae. Another key R&D focus could be pheromone trapping impact maximisation by selection of locally attractive blend ratios and optimizing the pheromone loading in the dispenser which can enhance the cost-effectiveness of the lures in the traps. In case of pheromone blend composition being found variable for any target pest, there is scope to avail blend choice kits for quick local testing and selection, so to ensure adequate moth catches. This mini-review is thus covering both the current status and the future R%D priorities so to promote the adoption of such consumer-safe technologies among our vegetable farmers.