Belgian group Biobest has highlighted the biocontrol options available to tomato growers to help curb the treat of the leafminer pest, utilising two natural enemies – the parasitic wasps Diglyphus sibirica and Dacnusa isaea.
Several species of the leafminer (Lyriomyza) genus occur in commercial crops, most importantly the tomato leafminer (Lyriomyza bryoniae), the serpentine leafminer (L. trifolii) and the pea leafminer (L. huidobrensis).
Leafminer has become a particularly serious pest in European tomatoes, with the main issue being the damage done by the larvae tunneling through the leaf – this reduces the plants' photosynthetic capabilities, slows down flower production and ultimately impacts on the fruit.
'Biobest's UK team has developed valuable experience in tomato on how to use these parasitic wasps in a robust combination strategy,' explained Yann Jacques, product manager for macrobials. 'As leafminer pressure increases in tomato crops in the Netherlands, France and other Western European countries, more growers are adopting this highly effective control strategy, taking advantage of Biobest's advice and broad product offering.'
Phil Walker, general manager of Biobest UK, noted: ”In UK tomato crops we have developed quite some expertise using a combination of two complementary parasitic wasps - Dacnusa isaea and Diglyphus sibirica. We were able to develop robust strategies, capitalising on the complementarity between the biological characteristics of these two parasitic wasps.”
Jacques explained: “Effective early in the season, Dacnusa comes in first to manage and slow down the pest build up. To identify when to start introductions we recommend yellow Bug-Scan sticky traps to detect adults, plus regular inspection of the crop to look for the tell-tale stings.'
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