UK-based firm Russell IPM has unveiled a new a "weapon" in the fight against the dangerous tomato pest Tuta absoluta.
The newly introduced pest has already devastated a substantial part of this year’s production of tomatoes around Mediterranean countries and contributed to a hike in tomato prices in the second part of 2009. The pest also managed to affect a number of greenhouses in England, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The new product, Ferolite-TUA, is capable of entrapping thousands of male insects a night in addition to a substantial number of the female population, causing a major disturbance to the mating pattern and subsequent decline in the pest population, hence reducing crop damage without the use of insecticides.
The product is based on the newly discovered synergy between the insect sex pheromone and a particular light frequency to which the insect is most attracted. The discovery was made by the company’s R&D team while studying the mating behaviour of Tuta absoluta in greenhouses in southern Spain and Morocco.
Russell IPM already supplies the Mediterranean region with the majority of its needs of pheromones for the monitoring and mass trapping of Tuta absoluta. Dr Shakir Al-Zaidi, Russell IPM managing director, said: “The new discovery will underpin our efforts in the field of mass trapping of Tuta absoluta, by improving the effectiveness of the standard pheromone trap by 200-300 per cent in most cases.”
The product has already been shortlisted for the Horti Fair Innovation Award for 2009.
No comments yet