Helicoverpa's attacks on so-called state-of-the-art biotechnologies are increasingly common, according to a circular recently released by the IMA (Instituto Mato-Grossense do Algodão). The problem has already been identified in areas of Bahia and led the entity to officialize the "Monitoring Alert in VIP cotton crops", signed by researchers Jacob Crosariol Netto, Guilherme Gomes Rolim, Rogério Inoue and Eduardo Moreira de Barros.

In this document the IMA highlights, for example, that Helicoverpa has high reproductive capacity and preference for floral buds and apples of the umdoeiro. The circular also lists the recommended measures to contain caterpillar damage to biotechnologies, especially crop monitoring, applications of more selective insecticides to natural enemies and use of moth traps, including food-based traps or 'food attractions'.

"The main recommendation is to perform good crop monitoring. Once the pest is verified, control tools such as chemical and biological insecticides and moth traps are added. The more resources the producer integrates, the greater the chance of a Helicoverpa management program succeeding," summarizes IMA biologist and entomologist Jacob Crosariol Netto.

Crosariol Netto points out that the use of traps is an important part of monitoring. "Moths act at night. In Mato Grosso, overnight, you can capture up to thirty moths in a single trap. A representative population of moths indicates that there is a proportional number of Helicoverpa eggs placed in the cotton planting area," he explains.

Created in 2007, the Mato-Grossense Cotton Institute has six Research Centers in the state of MT. The IMA does not aim for profit and meets several demands of its associated producers, in the areas of research, development and technologies. One of the main investments of the entity focuses on the Cotton Breeding Program. The initiative, according to Crosariol Netto, aims to develop more productive varieties with better fiber quality.

ATTRACTION, CONTROL AND RESISTANCE

The Southern American company AgBiTech brought to Brazil the attraction for moths of the Brand Decoy. According to the company, the tool, easy to apply, reaches crops by land or air, including drones. The technical manager of AgBiTech, agronomist Marcelo Lima, informs that the product brings together a mixture of plant-based food extracts, specially developed to attract and control moths of the main lepdopteros-pests.

"This is a safe, effective and selective resource for insects," Lima says. In Australia, he points out, the company's appeal has already been recommended by regulators and adopted by 60% of farmers. "Decoy attracts helicoverpa moths and controls them by aggregate insecticide action. The product prevents the development of the pest and stops its advance."

Also according to Lima, in Brazilian owemaker the attractiveness of AgBiTech also demonstrated a highly favorable fit in the practices of integrated pest management (MIP) and resistance of caterpillars to chemical insecticides and biotechnologies.

Source: Agrolink