Light cum suction trap based IPM for the management of South American Tomato Moth, Phthorimaea absoluta (Meyrick, 1917)

Abstract

South American Tomato Moth, Phthorimaea absoluta that has invaded India in 2014 is a key pest of Tomato causing a yield loss of 80-100 per cent. Over relying on synthetic insecticides, as a primary option for managing this devastating pest has resulted in the development of resistance to the novel insecticides too. In this direction by integrating different IPM tools, wherein Light cum Suction Trap (LCST) as one of the component was evaluated against P. absoluta. Efficacy of LCST was found 5 times higher trapping of insect when compared to conventional light trap without suction mechanism. In LCST, 8496 moths were trapped as against 1674.67 moths in conventional trap. Further the integration of the LCST with the IPM module resulted in significant reduction of tomato fruit damage. The IPM implemented plots recorded a tomato fruit damage of 12.05 and 8.79 per cent in two seasons which was significantly lower than the control plots (up to 35.87%). The findings suggests that, IPM module by including light cum suction trap, egg parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum, need based spray of insecticides resulted in effective management of P. absoluta.