F
New
i
PM Tool
F
T
he
frui
TG
rower
• JAN
u
A
r
Y2017
A
fter three years of
u
K trials, BAS
f
, workingwith
Agrovista, has launched the firstmulti-pest
pheromone disruption system, named
r
AK 3+4.
lready commercially available in
e
urope, orchards are
floodedwith high rates of synthetic pheromones, andmale
moths become confused andgive up trying to find amate –
mating is disrupted.
w
ith consumers beingparticularlywary
of pesticide residues in fruit, this new approach topest
control in top-fruit offers real benefits for the control of
challengingmoth species,
writesSue Jupe
.
Setting the scene, Simon Townsend of BAS
f
said that, in
linewith other sectors of the industry, top fruit growers have
lost valuable actives in the past 15 years following
e
C
r
egulation 1107/2009, changing the emphasis on plant
protection products from a risk-based to a hazard-based
system. Pest anddisease challenges have been further
compoundedwith growingbiological resistance to some
remaining actives.
f
ollowing approval through amutual recognition label in
Belgium,
u
K top fruit growers have a new
i
PM (integrated
pestmanagement) tool -
r
AK 3+4 - amatingdisruption
system for CodlingMoth (
Cydia pomonella)
andSummer
f
ruit Tortrix (
Adoxophyes orana
).
i
n addition, trials have
produced observed efficacy against other Tortrix species
including Large
f
ruit Tree Tortrix andDark
f
ruit Tree Tortrix.
Adult CodlingMoths emerge from cocoons in spring.
e
ggs
laid on leaves anddeveloping fruit hatch after a short time
and the resulting larvae immediately bore into the fruitmaking
control with insecticides difficult. As themoths directly
damage the crop, the economic threshold is very low.
i
mportantly, inAugust or September there can be a partial
second generation and, according toAgrovista’s Paul
Bennett, this is particularly problematic as it necessitates
insecticides being applied close to harvest.
w
hilst growers
must adhere to strict harvest intervals, spraying at this stage
has the potential for detectable residues tobe foundon the
fruit, hewarns.
Among the existingplant protection product options for
Codling and TortrixMoths are the ovicidesChlorantraniliprole
(Coragen) and
f
enoxycarb (
i
nsegar) and larvicides Spinosad
(Tracer) andMethoxyfenozide (
r
unner).
Howdoes it work?
Aswith all good
i
PM systems, the pest population should
bemonitored using an appropriate pest forecasting system
ormonitoring traps. “The new
r
AK 3+4matingdisruption
system relies on the pheromones being in place before the
first targetmoths take flight in spring – aroundApril and
before the end of the blossom,” explainedSimon Townsend.
“Designed to give season-long control, the pheromone cloud
is released over ninemonths through to
o
ctober.”
Simonwent on to explain that in nature, femalemoths emit
pheromones producing a concentration gradient which
18
First multi-pest pheromone disruption system launched
