Articles
THE CONTROL OF APPLE MAGGOTS IN ORGANIC ORCHARDS WITH GF-120 NF NATURALYTE* FRUIT FLY BAIT
Article number
873_31
Pages
283 – 288
Language
English
Abstract
The apple maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella) is indigenous to North America and is especially widespread in eastern Canada, causing fruit damage and economic loss.
It is a quarantine pest and infested apples have little or no market value.
For organic orchards, the only registered control product is Surround®, a kaolin clay powder, serving to deter but not actively killing the maggot flies.
GF-120 Naturalyte* fruit fly bait is a relatively new organic insecticide (0.02% spinosad) which has the potential to control apple maggot.
Six field trials using different rates of GF-120 (1.5 L ha-1, 2.25 L ha-1 and 3.0 L ha-1) were conducted in the summer of 2007 in organic orchards located in two Canadian provinces, Nova Scotia and Ontario; the efficacy of GF-120 was assessed by comparing its performance to the level of apple maggot control achieved by Surround®. Apple maggot pest pressure varied among the orchards under investigation.
In Nova Scotia, the Block 84 orchard was heavily infested with apple maggot and among the unsprayed apples, 69% sustained some degree of fruit damage.
In Ontario, 44% of the unsprayed apples in Home orchard had apple maggot damage.
Unsprayed apples from the rest of the orchards had apple maggot injury ranging from 1118%. Results showed that less than 3% of treated apples sustained apple maggot damage in any of the trials in this study except for those in Block 84 and Home. GF-120 tested at any rate was as effective as Surround® in the control of apple maggot, with the exception of the Home orchard, where the lowest rate of GF-120 had significantly more infested apples than Surround®. However, in the Block 84 orchard, GF-120 at the lowest rate was as effective as Surround® and was able to reduce fruit damage from 69% to 11%.
It is a quarantine pest and infested apples have little or no market value.
For organic orchards, the only registered control product is Surround®, a kaolin clay powder, serving to deter but not actively killing the maggot flies.
GF-120 Naturalyte* fruit fly bait is a relatively new organic insecticide (0.02% spinosad) which has the potential to control apple maggot.
Six field trials using different rates of GF-120 (1.5 L ha-1, 2.25 L ha-1 and 3.0 L ha-1) were conducted in the summer of 2007 in organic orchards located in two Canadian provinces, Nova Scotia and Ontario; the efficacy of GF-120 was assessed by comparing its performance to the level of apple maggot control achieved by Surround®. Apple maggot pest pressure varied among the orchards under investigation.
In Nova Scotia, the Block 84 orchard was heavily infested with apple maggot and among the unsprayed apples, 69% sustained some degree of fruit damage.
In Ontario, 44% of the unsprayed apples in Home orchard had apple maggot damage.
Unsprayed apples from the rest of the orchards had apple maggot injury ranging from 1118%. Results showed that less than 3% of treated apples sustained apple maggot damage in any of the trials in this study except for those in Block 84 and Home. GF-120 tested at any rate was as effective as Surround® in the control of apple maggot, with the exception of the Home orchard, where the lowest rate of GF-120 had significantly more infested apples than Surround®. However, in the Block 84 orchard, GF-120 at the lowest rate was as effective as Surround® and was able to reduce fruit damage from 69% to 11%.
Publication
Authors
J. Reekie, E. Specht, K. Carter, M. Appleby, H. Fraser, K. Wilson, L. Pink
Keywords
Malus ×domestica, Rhagoletis pomonella, spinosad, Surround®, efficacy trials
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