Pheromone trap and population model-based control of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella L., in Romanian apple culture.

Like in most parts of the world, the codling moth, Cydia pomonello (L.), is one of the most important pests in apple orchards in the Romanian Banat region. There, the control of this pest is often inadequate and the damage and economic losses are therefore enormous. This lack of control is caused by structural problems such as the absence of an advanced distribution network for phytopharmaceutical products, obsolete spraying equipment and the insufficient exchange of knowledge and expertise of those products and the pest itself between the local research facilities and the apple growers. The purpose of this research project is rather demonstrative, because a change in the Romanian pome culture's attitude is urgently needed. Pheromone trapping and the computerized population model RIMpro Cydia, which predicts important phenological events such as adult flight and egg hatch, were used to determine the optimal spray timing. These modern pest management techniques would not only minimize pressure on the environment, but also on the income of the Romanian apple grower, for whom phytopharmaceuticals are a high-priced investment. In July 2006 a comparative study between the supervised pest control program using Calypso, Runner and Reldan, all easily obtainable and commercially available insecticides in the region, and a conventional Romanian management programme was conducted. The control plot and the two test plots were all three located in a high codling moth pressure orchard in Timişoara. In the control plot 9,44 % of the fruits were damaged by codling moth larvae. In the plot containing the trees that were treated according to the traditional Romanian management programme 5,56 % damage was recorded, while the supervised management plot showed only 1,1% damage. Additionally damage was measured in another orchard in Periam, about 60 km away from the other plots. There, an intensive control program using Reldan, Calypso, Actare, Karate and Insegar was applied and damage measured only 0.2%. While at first glance that approach seems most efficient, it has to be noticed that it used twice as much insecticide treatments as were used in the supervised control program. Furthermore, 1 % damage is suggested by most references as being the economical threshold for treatments. The results of this comparative study clearly show that supervised codling moth control proofs to be the most profitable. Starting from August the same year, all of the control programmes in Timişoara were stopped. Therefore the second and possibly the third generation of codling moth larvae could develop freely. In the plot which was earlier sprayed according to the warnings of RIMpro Cydia and the pheromone trap this resulted in 27.5% damaged fruits during harvest in September. In the control plot damage reached 60.95%. These results highlight the necessity of the development of an efficient codling moth control program. Once that program is fine-tuned it should be presented to the local apple growers in order to give the Romanian pome culture a boost.