Control of Lobesia botrana begins to give positive results
The detection of Lobesia botrana - also known as the grapevine moth - in blueberries in December of 2014, and that led to a series of sanitary demands by the authorities of the US Department of Agriculture. (USDA) as of the Christmas Eve of that year, he realized that the control of the plague that had been coming for several years, and that mainly affects the vines, had escaped from the hands.
In fact, between the 2008-2009 season and the 2014-2015 season, moth detections had registered a sustained increase in the number of farms and hectares affected. However, with more resources and new actions from public and private entities, the situation was reversed.
According to the data of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) available until the March 18, those that already set a trend for this year and could only vary in minimum values at the end of the season, the level of catches of the pest decreased 77% with respect to 2014-2015 regarding the number of insects in the farms, and 15% and 10% if the number of orchards affected and hectares committed, respectively (see infographic).
The most evident behind these results is the increase in resources that the SAG has received in recent years, which went from $ 3.690 million in 2013 - much lower than the $ 10.535 million that was allocated to it when the plague appeared. Chile- about $ 7 billion in 2014; then, at $ 9.209 million the 2015, and at $ 11.500 million this year.
In addition, new control technologies were introduced. And many producers and guilds point out that the most decisive factor in making a difference for the control of the plague this year was the implementation of the technique of sexual confusion in the properties, since it was applied in around 50 thousand hectares -of which some 30 thousand covered the SAG and other 20 thousand farmers- and it would be less invasive and more effective than the controls with agrochemicals.
"Undoubtedly, the increase in the area treated with emitters of sexual confusion this season is the technical reason responsible for this significant decrease in the catches of insects, to which are added the treatments that producers have had to carry out", assures the president of Asoex, Ronald Bown.
Different actors also emphasize that there has also been a more fluid communication between the authorities, the exporters and the representatives of the most affected guilds, which are the wine growers, producers of table grapes and blueberries and who normally have different interests, due to the requirements that the different products have in the international markets in phytosanitary terms.
Despite the progress made this season, both the SAG and representatives of the private sector say that it is not yet the time for applause, since the final goal of the program has not been achieved and there are still aspects to be improved towards the 2016-2017 campaign.
Sexual confusion
Sexual confusion is a technique that consists of the diffusion of pheromones to confuse male insects and make it difficult for them to locate females to reproduce, which decreases the population. Among its other advantages is that it leaves no residue in the fruit, as happens with chemical control.
Therefore, one of the priorities that will be given to the increase of resources for this year's SAG program -which will be allocated to the next season- will be to increase the area covered with this system to a total of 80 thousand hectares, of the which the public service would contribute half.
The national manager of the Lobesia botrana program of the SAG, Grisel Monje, anticipates that, although this season they concentrated on the vinifera vines, for the next they will extend the use of this technique to other species, such as table grapes, blueberries and plums.
"According to all the preliminary conversations that have taken place, I would say that the availability of sexual confounders will be fine, according to our expectations and we will not have problems", says Monje, before the problems that were in 2015 to get them, since there was only one supplier company in the world.
The producers also see that this is an alternative that has other advantages, such as the low impact on the environment and the quality of the fruit, and is even well received by organic producers, in some cases.
In addition, from the side of the vintners, many consider that this technique is more friendly for the sector, which in many cases does not have the machinery that is required to perform a control with agrochemicals. In any case, the control plan establishes that if there are moth captures in a property, they have to carry out those applications.
"This has been a completely different campaign, where the use of sexual confusion has a first incidence in the cost, and then in the waste, because nothing is being transferred to the wine, which was something that affected the organic producers a lot. the sustainability programs. In addition, the logistical problem of chemical applications no longer occurs ", says Pedro Hiribarren, representative of Vinos de Chile for the Lobesia program.
Chemical control
One of the problems of the application of chemical products, mandatory in the properties where there are catches, is that besides the environmental impact and the higher costs, it implies difficulties to export and the list of those that can be used and that do not leave residues is very bounded.
In the case of those who have to use chemical products to control the pest, the chair of the Table Grape Committee, Fernando Sat, explains that it is difficult to meet during the third flight of the moth, in the last stage of the summer, since the producers have to respect the time of lack of waste required by the markets of destination.
"There are used products that are better for the environment and for that lack, but they are not so good for insect control, so there are increases in the number of catches in that stage. That is something that we have to correct in some way ", poses.
Grisel Monje says that they are working on improving the palette of products available in that sense and on tweaking the applications notifications by zones, but he believes that chemical controls are still necessary. "In the fruits of export it is necessary to have a more intense phytosanitary program, because in fact there can not be any immature state of the plague in them, and that is more difficult to achieve," he stresses.
The same raises the president of Fedefruta, Juan Carolus Brown, who believes that producers should not only meet the minimum requirements of the SAG, but worry about making the greatest possible control, both with sexual confounders and chemical products.
"We insist that they have to cooperate to cover well the small gaps that can occur with sexual congestion and moth flights, because these are not the only solution, but have to be complemented by decisive action by the producers according to the reality of their gardens ", poses.
Focus on urban areas
One of the points that remains pending is how to improve the control of the plague in the cities, where it is common to find homemade parrots in the central zone, for which the SAG has covered about nine thousand hectares with sexual confounders last season.
"More resources are needed to better cover that part, because that is what can allow us to eradicate the insect in the long term", says Fernando Sat.
A similar approach has Ronald Bown, who considers that the homemade parrones are the reservoir of the plague and one of the centers responsible for that return to see affected productive areas nearby. Therefore, he considers key work being done by Asoex with the Foundation for Fruit Development (FDF) and the SAG in developing complementary control techniques, such as the use of sterile insect and biological controllers, which would be less invasive for urban areas. .
Although they are techniques that are being tested at the laboratory level, the FDF researcher David Castro explains that, in the case of the sterile insect, one could get to have a low of the 70% in the Lobesia. "That is to say, of one hundred eggs that the moth puts, seventy are not going to produce new individuals. That would be a great contribution to release them in urban areas, where there is now an 100% fertility "He says.
With the idea of getting to apply it in urban areas, during the next season they would carry out a test in some homemade parrones, where they would release a group of moths weekly to evaluate the results, with the idea of getting to use it on a more massive scale within of three or four years.
"We need to fine-tune an application method, probably with a technician who distributes a weekly bag of moths from house to house and, once evaluated think about something more industrial, because it would require a few million dollars"adds David Castro, who believes the technique can be a very good alternative, along with other techniques that are studying in the foundation.
Plan for the long term
"We must highlight the commitment that the Ministry of Agriculture has assumed regarding the resources involved and their permanence. It has been one of the relevant factors in the success "says Ronald Bown.
Maintaining results during this season is key. Therefore, the producers say that they are still not satisfied with the resources allocated to the program and insist that it is necessary to continue increasing them to cover with sexual confusion at least the 100 thousand hectares of vineyards in the country. In this sense, one of the elements that the sector suggests to review is the limitation of the SAG budget.
"I wish it could be understood at the ministerial or parliamentary level that the SAG should have a specific budget for pest control. It should have resources separate from the operational budget to be able to plan a longer-term strategy, and not just for next year, something they can not do now because they do not have the resources ", proposes Fernando Sat.
On the other hand, Grisel Monje assures that the objective that has been fixed is to arrive to count on a strategy oriented to the medium term, which would be nearer because in this season it was possible to arrive at plan that had more agreement between the different actors .
"That is our bet"He says.
He also believes that it is a country program, which should not be subtracted resources when they begin to see good results.
"This program is not a government, because the control of the Lobesia we all do and there must be that conviction that it is a medium and long term program. If we see that it is turning out and we are taking money from it, what will happen a few years ago, with all the consequences it has had for the country, will happen again. "He says.
In 50 thousand hectares the technique of sexual confusion was used. They hope to get to 80 thousand.
Good prospects for blueberries
Among the positive results obtained during this season is the fall of the moth captures in blueberry orchards, where there was a decrease of 76% with respect to the 2014-2015 campaign, adding a total of 9.283 captures, compared to the 37.939 previous, according to the figures of the SAG.
When analyzing the results by regions, in La Araucanía -that the official program considers as an area for the eradication of the plague- there were no catches, while in the Biobío there was 85, which is equivalent to a decrease of 72% in relation to the season previous.
The national director of the SAG, Ángel Sartori, ensures that they have reported these results periodically to the US health authorities, in order to show how progress has been made in the control of Lobesia and, ideally, to get the requirement of fumigation eliminated with methyl bromide for blueberries, at least in some areas of the country.
"There is the commitment to soon make a video conference between the technical teams to review the last proposal presented by our service, leading to have alternative measures to the fumigation with methyl bromide for producers in the Biobío Region that meet the requirements that we agree . This is projected for the 2016-2017 export season "He says.
Fruit fly: many kilos of fruit, but little insect
Regarding the fruit fly, a plague of which Chile has the international status of a free country, since although sporadic minor foci are detected, such as the recent one in Valparaíso, the SAG applies a strict control program. According to the Fruit Fly Program data of the organism, between January and March of 2016 there were 28.400 interceptions of fruit, that is, that was the number of times that fruit was detected and stopped the entry into the country. However, there were only 44 intercepts of larvae fruit fly fruit of economic importance. The low number of detections, together with the effective control program, is what allows Chile to maintain the status of a fruit fly-free country.
Source: Revista del Campo
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