SOUTH TYROL APPLE TRENTINO WINE GRAPE EMILIA ROMAGNA PEACH PHEROMONES BIOLOGICAL PEST PREVENTION IN MODERN IPM INTRODUCTION The Mating Disruption (MD) technique employing sexual pheromones of Lepidoptera moths received increasing attention over the last decade in Europe. In 2011 it was applied on nearly 1,000,000 hectares of fruits, vines and other crops all over the world; Europe accounted for about 200,000 ha mainly in grape and fresh fruits. The earliest applications of MD began in the late ‘80’s in several countries such as Italy, Swiss, Germany and Spain. Since the mid ‘90’s some of their uses started to expand in several regions and particularly in the fruits production districts of northern Italy like Trentino and South Tyrol for Grape and Apples and Emilia Romagna and Piedmont for Peaches and Pome fruits. Local technical advisory teams began to integrate pheromones in their IPM strategies for the control of key pests to solve problems connected to the use of chemical insecticides such as pest resistance, particularly in pome fruits for Cydia pomonella (CDM) and in stone fruits for Grapholita molesta (OFM), as well as to reduce chemical residues in order to comply with EU MRL’s standards and consumers demand. Furthermore the reduction of available chemical products, due to the revision process in EU and the increased concerns for workers and public health, brought to a revaluation of IPM strategies where pheromones are confirming their leading role. Clear practical examples of the achievements by pheromone based IPM are reported in the data collected by several advisory teams in various regions of Europe that are reported in this poster. Area wide use of pheromones to disrupt the mating of several apple pests including Cydia pomonella (CDM), Grapholita molesta (OFM) and various species of Leafrollers allowed to improve their control achieving an average harvest damage below well 1% with an average seasonal insecticide spray of far less than 1/ha. Also random samples survey confirmed that 85.4% of harvested fruits were free from any insecticides residue and 14,6% of samples had residues of not more than one insecticide used to control the above pests at levels of 0,01 ppm to 0,12 ppm and 1,5% of samples had two insecticides in the same range, both well below the limits allowed by EU regulation as well as the most severe levels set by food retail. The application of pheromone Mating Disruption to prevent population developments of Grape Berry Moths (Lobesia botrana and Eupoecilia ambiguella) on 2.400 ha of vineyards located between Mezzocorona, S. Michele and Mezzolombardo towns allowed to reduce the seasonal total chemical input of insecticides from the average 5 Kg/ha of the ‘90’s down to 0,1 Kg/ha of the last three seasons. At the same time the chemical insecticides residues on grape lowered from 0,15-0,25 ppm to 0,01 ppm and the residues in wine could no longer be detected. Survey conducted, on random basis by cooperatives association and coordinated with provincial advisors, among growers applying pheromone Mating Disruption to control Grapholita molesta (OFM) and Anarsia lineatella (PTwB) showed that the chemical insecticide input decreased from 4-6 applications in the first season of pheromone use down to 1 or no spray after 4 years of consecutive pheromone application. This shows the clear efficacy of this preventive method in reducing the pest populations, but also the increased confidence acquired by growers over the years in a “non killing” system. Waldner W. 1) ; Varner M. 2) ; Mattedi L. 3) ; Marani G. 4) ; Melandri M., 5) Pradolesi G. 5) ; Iodice A. 6) , Veronelli V. 6) 1) Sudtirol Beratungsring fur Obst und Weinbau, Lana (BZ) Italy 2) Mezzacorona Winery, Mezzocorona (TN) Italy 3) FEM, S. Michele a/Adige (TN) Italy 4) AGRISOL Cooperative, Cotignola (RA) Italy 5 ) Terremerse Cooperative R&D, Bagnacavallo (RA) Italy 6) CBC (EUROPE) Ltd., Nova Milanese (MB) Italy INSECTICIDES INPUT Kg/ha Mezzacorona Vineyards (2400 ha) AREA WIDE Pheromone Use 0 0,05 0,1 0,15 0,2 0,25 0,3 0,35 0,4 0,45 0,5 ppm o mg/Kg 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL INSECTICIDES RESIDUES Mezzacorona Grape at harvest TOTAL INSECTICIDES RESIDUES Mezzacorona Commercial Wines ORCHARDS REPORTS Cydia pomonella (Codling moth CDM) damage and treatments YEAR scouted orchards harvest damage % % orchards below 1% additional spray avg. 1994 421 0.5 86.7 1.5 1995 631 0.8 80.0 0.5 1996 91 0.5 92.3 0.6 1997 66 0.4 89.4 0.3 1998 156 0.9 76.9 0.5 1999 279 0.6 81.7 1.6 2000 187 0.3 92.0 0.7 2001 154 0.3 94.8 0.4 2002 184 0.7 85.8 0.6 2003 223 1.1 77.6 0.9 2004 252 0.8 85.0 0.6 2005 224 0.5 87.0 0.3 2006 155 0.4 85.0 0.3 2007 252 0.5 87,7 n.d. 2008 256 0.18 97,2 n.d. 2009 259 0,09 98,8 n.d. 2010 272 0,26 95,6 n.d. APPLE DAMAGE HISTORY Cydia pomonella (Codling moth CDM) CDM DAMAGED APPLES % IN MERAN MD ORCHARDS 1994-2010 APPLES INSECTICIDES RESIDUES Cydia pomonella (Codling moth CDM) CHEMICAL INSECTICIDES RESIDUES SAMPLES IN MERAN AREA* Sprays number in relation to years of pheromone MD use 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 1-3 4-6 >6 Superficie (%) INSECTICIDES SPRAY Ravenna peach orchards 1 YEAR 2-3 YEARS 4-10 YEARS Sprays number Orchards surface % surface using MD for Cydia molesta and/or Anarsia lineatella PHEROMONE MD USE Ravenna peach orchards OFM DAMAGED PEACHES % in MD ORCHARDS in 2006 PEACH DAMAGE IN MD Cydia molesta (Oriental fruit moth OFM) Orchards surface % Harvest damage % Years Years EC - MRL RETAIL - MRL mg/kg or ppm * ANALYSIS ON 227 RANDOM SAMPLES 2009 73,6% (167) NEGATIVE - FREE FROM RESIDUE 26,4% (60) POSITIVE WITH LOW RESIDUES well below both the EC-MRL and the RETAIL - MRL (30% OF EC) 2010 85,4% (194) NEGATIVE - FREE FROM RESIDUE 14,6% (33) POSITIVE WITH LOW RESIDUES well below both the EC-MRL and the RETAIL - MRL (30% OF EC) Source South Tyrol Apple Consortium Years CDM harvest damage % OECD Workshop on IPM 16-19 October 2011 Berlin (Germany)