They monitor the grape's moth after finding specimens in drawers of the rahuina fair
With a regulated area of three kilometers around the Feria Libre de Rahue, located on Temuco street in Rahue Bajo, the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) started on Monday 12 of January in Osorno the work of prevention to avoid the outbreak of the insect Lobesia Botrana, better known as the "grape moth."
In practice, a regulated area means monitoring a suspected area of this pest, as explained by the SAG director, Alejandro Peña.
In practice, a regulated area means monitoring a suspected area of this pest, as explained by the SAG director, Alejandro Peña.
«The SAG will visit the neighbors to detect the presence of vine plants, in order to prospect and identify the possible occurrence of this plague", He said.
The monitoring is due to the fact that during the inspections carried out by the experts of the agricultural entity at the Feria Libre de Rahue, specifically, the presence of Lobesia Botrana in the monitoring traps, not in the grapes, so the protocol indicates that a study must be done within a radius of three kilometers around the site where the insects were found, visiting homes and checking orchards, to see if Outbreaks are detected in order to fight them immediately.
«We will visit houses, home gardens or isolated plants. And if eventually we find some outbreak, it will be destroyed«explains Peña, also adding that this task requires the collaboration and support of neighbors to receive the special inspection brigades in their homes.
This insect is lodged in grape clusters, causing harmful effects on the fruit such as putrefaction, which prevents it from being commercialized and much less exported.
In Chile this plague is present until the Bío Bío Region, so the province of Osorno and Region are completely free of this insect and therefore its fruit trees.
Possible effects
While it is true that local plantations are oblivious to this problem, one of the fruits that like the grape hosts this insect is the blueberry.
This berry is one of the main products of the Region (1.141,3 hectares according to data of Odepa of 2012), reason why the arrival of the moth would bring dire consequences for its production.
«In our area there is a large area of blueberry plantations for export and in the event of finding a plague in these fruits, we should take a measure of another nature. For now we must be calm, since the detection has been done in places where grape is sold, specifically in the Fair Free Rahue and not in the few parronales that are in the area«, indicates the acting director.
Peña, furthermore, is emphatic in pointing out that the outbreak detected at the Rahuina fair is still an isolated event, which is why the intervention of the SAG is absolutely preventive: «one could think that this presence of the insect at the fair may have a future impact, but that is precisely our action, to detect early the pest and establish measures when we are with low presence of the same«.
In those places where the plague has attacked, a series of restrictions related to the export issue have been generated.
At this moment in the central zone, where there is presence of this moth, the requirements to access some markets go through the obligatory nature of the application of fumigations, increasing the costs for producers.
Peña said that there is support from the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile (Asoex) in case of outbreaks of Lobesia Botrana.
«It is good to note that in this battle we have a very good coordination at national level and collaboration agreements with Asoex, who are aware of the scope of this insect and the problems it generates in shipments«he explained.
Features
As indicated by the entomologist of SAG Eladio Rojas, the Lobesia Botrana is a moth of the torticidae family, of European origin, detected in Chile in the 2008 year.
There is no clarity as to how this insect arrived in the country, but it is presumed to be in propagation material. Its size is very small, but it is striking, since it mixes colors like coffee, red and blue tones.
Another feature is that your flight is done during sunset.
«In the zone we have installed several pheromone traps that produce the females, therefore in these the males fall. Identification is done through the reproductive system, which is like the fingerprint, which makes it unmistakable when it comes to Lobesia or not«Rojas stated.
According to the specialist, blueberries are a secondary host of the insect where its presence has been detected, although it mainly attacks the grapes.
«This makes us stop even more the antennas in this area. Until last year was not considered the blueberry within the surveillance«, he indicated.
Source: Diario Austral de Osorno.
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