Management of Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) Using Biopesticides on Tomato Crop under Greenhouse Conditions

Abdel Kader El Hajj,Helen Rizk,Vera Talj,Maysaa Houssein,Nour Taha,Zinette Mousa,Soha Aleik,Mariam Gharib

doi:10.5539/jas.v9n11p123

Abdel Kader El Hajj, Helen Rizk + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v9n11p123

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Abstract

Tuta absoluta is the major insect invading tomato crop under greenhouse and open field conditions in Lebanon. Farmers mainly depend on chemical control to reduce damage caused by the larva. The hazard use of chemical agents can lead to resistance accumulation. The objective of this study is to investigate alternative agents like biopesticides to control this pest. Two field trials were conducted at the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) for two years under greenhouse conditions. In 2014, the first trial was conducted in two greenhouses: 1-control greenhouse without insect proof net (CG); 2-double door Greenhouse with insect proof net (DDG). In 2015, the second trial was conducted only in control greenhouse.Four treatments and control (not treated plot) were adopted in both trials. The biopesticides used in this study were Neem azal and Bacillus thuringiensis. Results of the first trial showed that using insect proof net reduced the captured adults on the water trap as compared with control greenhouse and thus reducing the damaged caused by the larva of tomato leaf miner on leaves and fruits. The adopted treatments have shown significant differences in the number of mines/leaf, live larva/leaf and percent of damaged fruits in both trials compared to the control. Applying Bacillius thuringiensis and neem azal separately and mixing them together have shown a promising alternative method to chemical control.

Highlights

Tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta, Meyrick Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is currently recognized as a major threat to tomato production in both greenhouse and open field conditions
32 MIU g-1 [millions of International Units per gram]) were assigned to 4 treatments as follow: Treatment I (NA10): Neem Azal sprayed at 10 days frequency (60 ml/20 L water); Treatment II (NA15): Neem Azal sprayed at 15 days frequency (60 ml/20 L water); Treatment III (BT10): Bacillus Thuringiensis sprayed at 10 days frequency (20 g/20 L water); Treatment IV (NABT): Neem Azal mixed with Bacillus Thuringiensis sprayed at 10 days frequency with the same rate as other treatment; Treatment V (Ctrl): Kept as untreated control
The number of captured adults of tomato leafminer were significantly greater in the control greenhouse (Mdn = 88) than in the double door greenhouse (Mdn = 8), (Wilcoxon test, Z = 3.87, p = .0001, r = .45ns)

Summary

Introduction

Tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta, Meyrick Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is currently recognized as a major threat to tomato production in both greenhouse and open field conditions. The moth originates from South America and was spread to Europe, North Africa, Asia and recently in the Middle East over the past ten years (Desneux, 2011; FAO, 2016; Alberto Urbaneja, 2012). Their larvae damage leaves, fruits, and stems (Savino et al, 2012), causing considerable losses on tomato yield. Tomato leafminer is difficult to control because the larvae feed inside the plant (Guedes et al, 2012; Gebrelebanos, 2015) and their capability to develop resistance to synthetic insecticides (IRAC, 2011; Guedes et al, 2012; Siqueira et al, 2010). Resistance to pyrethroid (Siqueira et al, 2010), abamectin (Siqueira et al, 2001; Guedes et al, 2011; Lietti et al, 2005), cartap (Siqueira et al, 2001; Siqueira et al, 2000), permethrin, methamidophos (Siqueira et al, 2001; Lietti et al, 2005) and spinosad (Campos et al, 2014) used to control tomato leaf miner has been reported

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