Controlled Release Products
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CONTROLLED RELEASE PRODUCTS CONTROLLED RELEASE PRODUCTS FOR MANAGING INSECT PESTS Faleiro J.R., 1; Al-Shawaf, A.M. 1; Al-Dandan, A.M. 2; Al-Odhayb, A. 3; Al-Rudayni, A. 3; Abdallah, A.B. 1; Peixoto, M.P. 4; Vargas, R. 5; Bottom, M. 6; Chidi, S. 7; Borges, R. 8; Mafra-Neto, A. 9 1Centre for Date Palm & Dates in Al-Hassa, Ministry of Agriculture, Saudi Arabia; 2Ministry of Agriculture in Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia; 3Directorate of Agriculture in Al-Qassim, Ministry of Agriculture, Saudi Arabia; 4Instituto Federal Goiano, Rio Verde Campus, GO, Brazil; 5Daniel K. Inouye U. S. Pacific BasinA gricultural Research Center, USDA ARS, Hilo, HI, U.S.; 6Embrapa Grape & Wine, Santa Rita, Bento Gonçalves, RS, Brazil; 7 Arysta LifeScience, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; 8ISCA Tecnologias, Ijui, RS, Brazil; 9Agenor Mafra-Neto, ISCA Technologies, Inc., 1230 Spring St., Riverside, CA 92507, USA (corresponding author: [email protected]) is a crucial safeguard to circumvent resistance development, Keywords: pest management, semiochemicals, attract and kill, formulation technology making the loss of more and more pesticide molecules to deregulation an even greater threat to effective long-term pest control. For these reasons, extensive research has been conducted From 1900–2000, the global human population grew by into an alternative control method, requiring no or minimal more than 400%, from 1.5 to 6.1 billion (Roser, 2015). The use of chemical toxicants: semiochemical-based pest manage- demands that the current population places upon global food ment. Semiochemicals – compounds that manipulate insect supplies presents what may be one of the greatest challenges behavior – possess many advantages over conventional insec- of the modern age. To support such a large population in a ticides. Semiochemicals are naturally occurring compounds reliable, sustainable manner, productivity of agricultural crops with short environmental lives, and are generally viewed as will have to be improved significantly, most likely through safer, for both people and the environment, than traditional multiple means (development of new, higher-yield crops; pesticides (reviewed in OECD, 2002). Most semiochemicals more efficient water use; improved cropping systems). One used in pest management have been species-specific pherom- active area of research is the development of more effective ones (produced by members of the same species to commu- methods of agricultural pest management. nicate with each other, but eliciting no response in other For much of contemporary history, insect pest manage- species), and as such, present fewer risks of negative impacts ment has relied predominantly on conventional insecticides. on beneficial insects. These insecticides are typically designed as cover sprays with Rather than attempting to eradicate the pest by treat- residues covering the entire crop, with the aim of reducing or ing the entire crop with chemical toxicants, semiochemi- eliminating the pest population in the treated field. Since the cal pest management seeks to reduce pest populations over days of Silent Spring (Carson, 1962), there has been wide- time, often by non-lethal means, such as mating disruption, spread concern over the potential hazards of traditional insec- which involves application of synthetic sex pheromones to ticides to workers, consumers, and the environment, leading interfere with male insects’ ability to locate a mate (Witzgall to increasingly stringent regulation of their use. Though steps et al., 2010). Another promising strategy of semiochemical have been taken to minimize the risks posed by pesticide appli- control is attract and kill (A&K), which consists of blending cations, public perception of the suitability of these chemi- a semiochemical attractant with a small quantity of toxicant. cals remains negative. Over time, more robust regulation A&K techniques reduce the amount of pesticide applied per may result in the loss of pest control measures upon which unit area compared to traditional cover sprays, and enable many agricultural producers currently depend. In addition to more selective application methods, maximizing impact on their questionable long-term availability, traditional insecti- the target pest while minimizing risks of crop or environmen- cides possess a number of other limitations, which make the tal contamination, worker exposure, and harmful effects on development of alternative methods of pest control highly non-targets. A&K formulations are also less susceptible to desirable. the development of resistance: the attractant can typically be One of the most harmful of these shortcomings is the formulated with a variety of different toxicants, depending vulnerability of conventional insecticides to resistance, the on which insecticides work best against the target insect in a gradual loss of susceptibility of a target insect to a given toxin given environment, and on regulatory requirements. over time (Varela et al., 1993; Blomefield, 1994; Knightet al., Despite these advantages, semiochemical products have 1994; Sauphanor & Bouvier, 1995; Campbell et al., 2003). seen limited adoption compared to traditional insecticides. Resistance has been shown to occur more rapidly when a Reasons for this limited success are varied. Conventional single class of toxicants is applied frequently, without vari- pesticides have dominated the market for so long that it is ation, over multiple seasons (Buhler, 2016). Therefore, rota- difficult for new alternatives to gain traction (technology tion of multiple classes of insecticide to treat the same field “lock in”). Additionally, semiochemicals are often applied as DOI: 10.1564/v27_jun_00 Outlooks on Pest Management – June 2016 1 © 2016 Research Information Ltd. All rights reserved. www.pestoutlook.com CONTROLLED RELEASE PRODUCTS one component of an integrated approach to pest manage- keen competitive edge over the majority of semiochemical ment, and so require more in-depth knowledge of the pest’s products currently on the market. behavior and ecology to apply effectively than conventional ISCA Technologies, a biotech company in Riverside, CA, cover sprays. A key limitation of semiochemical technologies USA, has spent the past 15 years developing a line of prod- in the eyes of prospective users is the high cost of many semi- ucts based on this concept: Specialized Pheromone and Lure ochemical active ingredients (AIs). The volatile nature of these Application Technology, or SPLAT®. Comprised entirely of chemicals demands that a relatively large quantity of the AI be food-safe, organic inert ingredients, SPLAT is a flowable, applied over the treated area to sustain season-long control. If thick-liquid formulation, which is less viscous when agitated semiochemical products are to gain wider acceptance among by stirring or vibration, but thickens fairly quickly when at agricultural producers – especially if they are to be introduced rest. This thixotropic property enables a relatively fast and in developing nations, where food production is most chal- simple application process by manual or mechanical means, lenging to sustain – the affordability and ease-of-use of these producing a series of environmentally hardy, rainfast point products will have to be improved. sources affixed firmly to the substrates it is applied to in One way this optimization may be achieved is the formu- the field. As a liquid formulation, SPLAT can be applied at lation of semiochemical AIs into controlled-release technolo- any number, size, density or spatial pattern of point sources, gies. By extending AI field life (protecting it from environ- and so is readily adaptable to the needs of virtually any pest mental degradation, refining AI release rate), we can decrease management situation. the amount of semiochemical required to treat the crop effec- SPLAT’s flexibility is not limited to its application method, tively, lowering the overall cost of the application. In the past, but also extends to a broad variety of target insects, release most controlled-release technologies have been hand-applied rates, and control strategies. SPLAT formulations have been devices, such as pouches, polyethylene tubes or ropes, and developed for numerous insects, including agricultural, rubber septa-type dispensers. As these products require an forestry, medical, and veterinary pests, using sex pheromones, investment of time and manpower that would be difficult to kairomones (semiochemicals produced by host organisms implement in large-scale crops, controlled-release technolo- rather than by the insects themselves), food-based attractants, gies amenable to mechanized application would possess a aggregation pheromones, repellents, and multiple classes of Figure 1. RPW control using a single Hook RPW application was compared to a grower’s conventional IPM program (the IPM program consisted of mass trapping using a bucket trap per hectare containing an RPW pheromone lure – Chemtica International – 250g of ripe date fruits and water, together with as needed insecticide tree-drench and topical spray applications, and physical removal of detected larval infections). The field trial occurred in fields with similar weevil population densities, and the application of the treatments started at week zero (shown here is a trial in Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-KSA). Bar graph shows the total number of adult RPW killed per hectare per week (left vertical axis). Hook RPW (green bars) consistently removed a substantially higher number of adult RPW per hectare