Chile: Release of sterile moths to control “Lobesia botrana”
The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche, together with the national director of the SAG, Ángel Sartor; the president of the Fruit Exporters Association of Chile, Ronald Bown, and the general manager of Fedefruta, Juan Carlos Sepúlveda, officially opened the first test for the release of copies of Lobesia botrana sterile in the commune of Quilicura of the Metropolitan Region. The measure seeks to investigate new techniques for the control and eradication of this plague in urban areas of the country.
The activity also included the participation of the executive director of the Foundation for Agrarian Innovation (FIA), María José Etchegaray; the executive director of the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission, Patricio Aguilera; the one in charge of the PNLB, Grisel Monje; the person in charge of the National Program of Lobesia botrana from the private sector, Carlos Barriga, and FDF professionals, headed by David Castro, project manager of the Sterile Insect Technique in Lobesia botrana of FDF.
La Lobesia botrana It was detected in 2008, which is why the Ministry of Agriculture, through the Agricultural and Livestock Service, together with the private sector represented by Asoex and FDF, has generated various initiatives for its control and eradication. One of these initiatives is the Sterile Insect Technique (TIE). It is emphasized that this technique was implemented in Chile for the eradication of the fruit fly, obtaining very positive results, as expected with the grapevine moth.
«What we are doing is starting the development of the trial of a technique that allows for faster progress in the control of Lobesia botrana. Sterile vine moths have been released to reduce the rate of reproduction of the insect, under a concept very similar to that developed for the fruit fly. "We have great expectations for this project, in which the Agricultural and Livestock Service, the Foundation for Agrarian Innovation, the Foundation for Fruit Development, ASOEX, and the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission have participated.", the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche, told SimFRUIT.
Furche, in addition, thanked the cooperation of the residents of Quilicura, who made their homes available for the release of these sterile moths. «There will be 5 houses that will serve as witnesses, during the three cycles of the insect, between now and April. It is also important to clarify that this does not replace what we are already doing, but is a complement.".
For his part, the national director of the SAG pointed out: «This technique will be implemented in the urban sector, with the purpose of complementing what we are already implementing against this threat to the national fruit sector. "We are doing everything necessary, we have the right professionals, sufficient resources and coordinated work between the public and private sectors to be able to address its control and eradication as technically appropriate, and ensure the success of this campaign.".
«As a private sector we are tremendously satisfied and happy that a stage has been reached in which there is an innovative, sustainable and definitive resolution to control and eradicate this vine moth in the urban sector, which complements the success in the reduction of this pest that we are achieving in growing areas, thanks to the work of the Agricultural and Livestock Service. Actions like the one we are starting today were required to address the fight against this moth in the urban area, since there is really little progress that can be made if we only fight it in the orchards., commented, Ronald Bown, president of ASOEX.
The leader added that this technique, together with the other actions led by the SAG as applications and placement of Sexual Confusion Issuers (ECS), will allow freeing zones of the country of the presence of the insect, and with it, the condition of access to international markets. «The outstanding and professional work carried out by the SAG, together with the close relationship that exists between the public and private sectors, give us guarantees that things are being done well», Bown pointed out.
Finally, the director of the FIA, María José Etchegaray, highlighted: «For the Foundation it is very important to be supporting this type of initiative, because it brings together several relevant characteristics, such as the fact of having a public and private sector working together, as well as the fact that the project has a large national impact, given that it is "a very harmful pest for cultivation and export activity, and finally, it turns out to be an initiative that is at the forefront internationally.".
Essay: unique and friendly with the environment
As explained by David Castro, head of the quarantine entomology area of FDF: «The sterile insect technique consists of using nuclear energy to sterilize the insect. In this way, the physiology of the insect is altered and leaves it with little ability to reproduce, and thus this characteristic is transmitted to the offspring until the pest tends to disappear..
Regarding the release of sterile insects of the vine moth in urban areas of the country, the FDF professional stressed that, with this, Chile would become the only and first country to implement this technique in the field, that is, to remove it. of the scope of the laboratory. «Although there are two studies on this matter, one in Israel and the other in Syria, these are only at the laboratory level, they have not gone out into the field like we will do. All of which makes us pioneers in using this technique in the field and in Lobesia botrana.", clarified the FDF professional.
Castro added: «This season we are going to release approximately 2.000 sterile moths weekly in 5 private homes with the presence of domestic grapevines without adequate management, in the urban areas of the Quilicura commune of the Metropolitan Region. Ultimately, all this will mean the release of a total of 56.000 sterile moths in the season, for 28 weeks. The process will be monitored in the trap weekly, for which a fluorescent substance has been placed on the sterile moths, which will facilitate recognition. "We plan to have the first results of this trial in April of next year.".
SAG and the advances
The 2015-2016 season was very important in terms of the control and eradication of Lobesia botrana in Chile, since significant figures for the reduction of detection of the trapped insect were achieved in each of the affected sectors, such as table grapes and viniferous, blueberries and plums.
In this regard, Grisel Monje, executive director of the National Program of Lobesia botrana, he said: «What we manage in terms of pest control figures is mainly associated with the capture of adult male specimens in traps, and in that sense, the figures obtained last year were very positive. We are talking, in the case of table grapes and wine grapes, of a percentage decrease in catches of 77% at the national level, the figures being very significant in the three regions where we have the greatest problem, such as the Metropolitan, O'regions. Higgins and Maule.
Monje added: «Decrease figures of over 70% also occurred in blueberries and plums. Without a doubt, these figures are very encouraging in relation to the path we are traveling, but we must be cautious, since this is not a battle won, but rather requires continuing to strengthen actions and commitment to the fight, and part "This is the development of the Sterile Insect Technique, which we hope that in the near future can be an important tool in this battle we are fighting.".
Source: Freshplaza.es
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