A Review on Bio-computational Measures for the Control of Invasive Pest: Tuta absoluta (Tomato Leaf Miner)

Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), also called a tomato leaf miner, has been recorded as a worldwide serious insect pest on tomato and other crops of the Solanaceae family. It originated from South America and invaded to the other parts of the world, mostly in Africa, Asia, and Europe continents. In India, at first, Tuta absoluta was found in infested tomato crops of Maharashtra. The pest has a wide range of host plants but feeds exclusively on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), one of the most economically and nutritionally important crop. The crop production is challenged because of the severe infestation by the pest. If proper control measures are not taken, the damage caused by the pest reaches up to 100% as it happened in recent history. Destruction of economically important crops may show a negative impact on the country’s economy. In the present paper, we elucidated an overview of pest’s control strategies viz., chemical, biological, molecular and computational that can be applied in different invaded areas. An integrated way of management method is necessary to control the pest in an efficient way.