In top fruit, one of the major insect pests to combat is Codling moth (Cydia pomonella) whose larve damage fruit by burrowing into the flesh. Some of this damaged fruit may be dropped by the tree but some may still be carried through the season depending upon the timing of the infestation and require grading out at harvest.
CPGV (Cydia pommonella granulovirus) contained in products such as CARPOVIRUSINE and CARPOVIRUSINE EVO2 are virus based biological insecticides. These products are highly selective and only target codling moths with no impact to beneficials.
In top fruit, one of the major insect pests to combat is Codling moth (Cydia pomonella) whose larve damage fruit by burrowing into the flesh. Some of this damaged fruit may be dropped by the tree but some may still be carried through the season depending upon the timing of the infestation and require grading out at harvest. Increasingly due to warmer summers in the UK, we are now experiencing an increase in completed second generations of this pest, further increasing the need for robust control approaches.
Recently relied upon actives such as methoxyfenozide have been lost due their regulatory profiles and the future for others is far from certain. Particularly those which have a broader spectrum of activity against not only pests but also favourable beneficial species.
Pressures are increasing on growers to reduce pesticide inputs whilst still producing high quality produce, not only from regulators but also from retailers and processors whose customers are increasingly demanding more sustainable products. Fortunately there are tools to help growers achieve this aim and ultimately to do so will require an integrated approach to management.
As with conventional control monitoring, traps are key to timing interventions against this pest. In order to target codling moths when their eggs are exposed on foliar or fruit surfaces, monitoring traps should be checked weekly from petal fall through to harvest. If 5 or more moths are trapped per week in May or June this denotes enough pressure to intervene. If 3 adults are trapped during August or September this is the threshold for treatment against the second generation, as the fruit is now more susceptible to damage.
CPGV (Cydia pommonella granulovirus) contained in products such as CARPOVIRUSINE and CARPOVIRUSINE EVO2 are virus based biological insecticides. These products are highly selective and only target codling moths with no impact to beneficials.
Beneficials and particularly predators such as earwigs, ladybirds, lacewings and spiders can be further encouraged into the orchard by the use of refuge boxes [GHMaA1] that provide them with food and sanctuary. Many of these are generalist predators and will not only help to control codling moth populations but also have impacts against other key pests such as aphids.
Codling moth populations may be further reduced by the use of pheromones to disrupt mating behaviour. Pheromone control systems using RAK 3+4 is a combined pheromone to disrupt both codling moth and summer fruit tortrix.
Integrating the above strategies into orchards for the control of codling moth presents a viable solution to allow growers to continue to produce high quality fruit whilst becoming even more sustainable in their methods of production.
