IMPACTOFPHEROMONEMATINGDISRUPTION ANDPESTICIDESONORIENTALFRUITMOTH (GRAPHOLITA MOLESTA)ONPEACHES

Oriental fruit moth (OFM) is an important pest of summerfruit grown for both fresh market and processing in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Mating disruption was applied over three consecutive years on the same three cv. Golden Queen peach orchards. At each orchard plots of 0.5-3.5 ha were treated with pheromone dispensers, either alone or supplemented with insecticides. In year one, OFM populations were high and mating disruption or �-2 insecticide applications did not provide sufficient control, with up to 3% damage at harvest. The following year all trial areas received pheromone dispensers plus one or two insecticide applications and fruit damage was at acceptable level of less than �%. In year three, blocks with mating disruption alone averaged 0.2% OFM infestation compared with 0.9% where no OFM control was used. OFM mating disruption is now increasingly being adopted by growers, but the cost relative to insecticides is a barrier.