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Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study

Thaumatotibia leucotreta, known as the false codling moth, is a pest of citrus and other crops in sub-Saharan Africa. As it is endemic to this region and as South Africa exports most of its citrus around the world, T. leucotreta has phytosanitary status for most markets. This means that there is zer...

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Autor principal: Moore, Sean D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7908599/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572807
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031198
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author Moore, Sean D.
author_facet Moore, Sean D.
author_sort Moore, Sean D.
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description Thaumatotibia leucotreta, known as the false codling moth, is a pest of citrus and other crops in sub-Saharan Africa. As it is endemic to this region and as South Africa exports most of its citrus around the world, T. leucotreta has phytosanitary status for most markets. This means that there is zero tolerance for any infestation with live larvae in the market. Consequently, control measures prior to exporting must be exemplary. Certain markets require a standalone postharvest disinfestation treatment for T. leucotreta. However, the European Union accepts a systems approach, consisting of three measures and numerous components within these measures. Although effective preharvest control measures are important under all circumstances, they are most critical where a standalone postharvest disinfestation treatment is not applied, such as within a systems approach. Conventional wisdom may lead a belief that effective chemical control tools are imperative to achieve this end. However, we demonstrate that it is possible to effectively control T. leucotreta to a level acceptable for a phytosanitary market, using only biological control tools. This includes parasitoids, predators, microbial control, semiochemicals, and sterile insects. Simultaneously, on-farm and environmental safety is improved and compliance with the increasing stringency of chemical residue requirements imposed by markets is achieved.
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spelling pubmed-79085992021-02-27 Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study Moore, Sean D. Int J Environ Res Public Health Review Thaumatotibia leucotreta, known as the false codling moth, is a pest of citrus and other crops in sub-Saharan Africa. As it is endemic to this region and as South Africa exports most of its citrus around the world, T. leucotreta has phytosanitary status for most markets. This means that there is zero tolerance for any infestation with live larvae in the market. Consequently, control measures prior to exporting must be exemplary. Certain markets require a standalone postharvest disinfestation treatment for T. leucotreta. However, the European Union accepts a systems approach, consisting of three measures and numerous components within these measures. Although effective preharvest control measures are important under all circumstances, they are most critical where a standalone postharvest disinfestation treatment is not applied, such as within a systems approach. Conventional wisdom may lead a belief that effective chemical control tools are imperative to achieve this end. However, we demonstrate that it is possible to effectively control T. leucotreta to a level acceptable for a phytosanitary market, using only biological control tools. This includes parasitoids, predators, microbial control, semiochemicals, and sterile insects. Simultaneously, on-farm and environmental safety is improved and compliance with the increasing stringency of chemical residue requirements imposed by markets is achieved. MDPI 2021-01-29 2021-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7908599/ /pubmed/33572807 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031198 Text en © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Moore, Sean D.
Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study
title Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study
title_full Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study
title_fullStr Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study
title_full_unstemmed Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study
title_short Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study
title_sort biological control of a phytosanitary pest (thaumatotibia leucotreta): a case study
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7908599/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572807
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031198
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