Use of chemical and biological measures to control the date lesser moth Batrachedra amydraula Meyrick on Khastawi cultivar in Al-Saqlawyia/ Al-Anbar Province

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of some biological and chemical means for the control of lesser date moth Batrachedra amydraula Meyr. on the Khastawi cultivar in Al-Saqlawyia region/Al- Anbar Province during 2009. Results indicated the presence of this pest in date palm orchards of the region till 15/8/2009 , and according to the number of adults found in the light trap, this insect has three generation in the region. The highest number of adults was 47 individual/trap/week recorded in 24/4/2009. Results also indicated that all control measures were effective in reducing the infestation by this pest on date fruit during both hababook and chemri stages when applied directly after completion of pollination practices or after two weeks of completing pollination. Infestation Percentages of fruits taken from bunches at hababook stage were 3.8,4.4,5.0 %and 2.8,3.4, 5.2% for the pyrethroids insecticide Deltamethrin, the parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens (Westwood) and the bacteria Bacillus thurengiensis kurestaki for the two dates of application respectively. While it was 10.2% for the control treatment. At chemri stage the percentages of total infestation reached 26.0,25.2 and 31.8%; and 29.0,23.0 and 27.0% for the three treatments at the two dates of application respectively. The percentage of infestation in the control treatment was 44.6%.Therefore the use of biological means for the control of this pest could be considered as a promising way for protecting date fruits and increasing production in addition to insure environmental and human health protection. However, more investigations are still needed to determine the proper timing and suitable way for the biological agent to be implemented in the management program for date palm pests in the country.