Studies on outbreak of tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) in South India and its differential susceptibility to insecticides

Abstract

Tomato fields in different locations of south India from where outbreaks of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)
occured were surveyed during 2019 -20 to assess the farmer’s adopted management strategies. The severity of T. absoluta resulted in the crop losses ranging from 20-90 per cent. The main reasons for the outbreak of T. absoluta were lack of knowledge on IPM among the farmers, delay in implementing management strategies, over reliance on insecticide sprays and usage of spurious and un-recommended insecticides. Bioassays of field collected T. absoluta populations shown resistance to a few insecticides viz., indoxacarb14.5SC, flubendiamide 39.5SC, cyantraniliprole 10.25SC and emamectin bezoate 5SG which were used for management of pest by the farmers. The present study thus analyses the recent outbreak of T. absoluta and offers Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM) strategy to avoid future loss to tomato growers.