Progress 09/01/02 to 08/31/04
Outputs
The driving force of this proposal was to develop a novel, safer insect control technique for the pecan industry. Specifically, to synthesize and develop formulations and management strategies that uses the PNC moth sex-pheromone to control this key pest of pecan orchards. There were several difficulties to the execution of this project. Although PNC has three generations per season, the first is the only one we could count on having good population densities to conduct mating disruption trials. The second and third generations were usually unpredictable, thus extremely difficult to work with. When we started this project the technological-state-of-the-art for production of PNC pheromone was at bench top multi-miligram to gram level at best; its use relegated to monitoring lures. In this SBIR project we fully addressed the optimization of bulk PNC pheromone synthesis at the multi-kilo level. This was key to the successful development of commercially viable mating
disruption and AandK formulations (as well as novel field devices to facilitate their application) designed to work in the three-dimensional reality of pecan orchards. Because we had enough material, we were able to have many disruption trials running at the same time. In Phase II we further expanded understanding on the effects of pheromone source formulation and application characteristics: the effect of formulation and release rate, the density of sources per area, the vertical positioning of sources, the amount of pheromone released by the controlled release devices, and, the most important issue, the timing of the application on the disruption of the PNC moth reproduction. We found that SPLAT, a patented wax emulsion formulation for pheromones exclusively licensed to ISCA,is a superb formulation for the controlled, sustained-release of PNC pheromone over long periods in real field situations. In our experiments SPLAT provided controlled release and protection not only of
semiochemicals, but also of insecticides. The use of CO2-propelled paint ball guns to apply SPLAT PNC allowed for the easy, fast and precise delivery of the mating disruption product to otherwise inaccessible points in the canopy of these often very tall pecan trees. Use of the Moritor Data Management System (www.moritor.com) allowed for fast field monitoring data collection and instantaneous automated internet reporting and distribution, thus allowing for efficient remote collaboration, project management and rapid, well-informed pest management decision making.
Impacts
SPLAT-PNC is poised as a prime candidate to replace currently used chemical and biological insecticides in the management of PNC in commercial pecan orchards, thus the EPA registration. In our Phase III efforts we are optimizing mass production of PNC pheromone controlled release devices, working on aerial application of SPLAT and proceeding with execution of our commercialization plan.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/03
Outputs
Building on the success of the Phase I program, we are currently optimizing the system in Phase II to develop a commercial PNC product. In Phase I the synthetic route to E9, Z11-hexadecadienal was reproducible to the 150 g scale. The optimization for synthesis of multiple Kg quantities of PNC pheromone is currently in progress and development. The chemical work so far has been performed at ISCA Technologies, and isca successfully formulated in paintballs a long lasting PNC pheromone source. FIELD WORK A Preliminary Sampling An even year old pecan orchard was divided into pecan nut casebearer (PNC) paintball pheromone and check treatments. A buffer of two tree rows were treated with 6-8 paintballs per tree to prevent migration between check and treated blocks. Five trees per acre were examined for flagged terminals to determine first flight. The stage of development of immature PNC larvae in flagged terminals was observed and heat units calculated to estimate first
flight. Prior to estimated first flight trees were treated with pheromone paintballs. Usually male moths emerge first which allows several days from first moth catch to mating. B PNC Traps Four pheromone collection traps were placed mid-height in trees in each replication to indicate disruption. A single lure was placed in each trap along with a kill strip to prevent moths from exiting the trap. The procedure was replicated four times in treated and untreated plots for a total of 32 traps. Traps were checked every three-four days unless the field was irrigated. Lures and kill strips were changed frequently. Paintball Pheromone Applications Each treated tree received three-four PNC pheromone paintballs. Shots were targeted at the low, mid and upper canopy. C Nutlet Infestation Data Five nutlet clusters per tree and 25 trees per replication were examined for infestation after the first and second PNC generation. D Moritor System All trap data was collected using the ISCA Technologies
Moritor system. Results and Conclusions Trap data can be easily transferred from the PDA directly to the Moritor web site. The mean number of moths caught over the season showed that pheromone disruption occurred after treatments were applied and resulted in a reduction of infested pecan nut clusters. Infestations were reduced in both generations in treated plots. There is evidence that paintball pheromone treated pecan trees significantly reduced the number of moths caught in trap and reduced infestation versus untreated pecan trees. When the pheromone was depleted there was an increase in trap catches. Statistical data was averaged by replication, descriptive statistics derived and a test of significance performed to compare statistical differences. Box and whisker plots illustrate variance from the mean in treated plots over that in untreated plots. Pheromone disruption is a novel insect control method that may prove to be valuable in integrated pest management of PNC, particularly
in small orchards and home owner settings. Continued research needs to be conducted to increase longevity, determine efficacy of control on larger trees and larger acreages and to determine cost effectiveness.
Impacts
Optimization of bulk production of PNC pheromone and of the mating disruption and A&K devices will also be done during this Phase II, as well as preparation for the commercialization. In Phase III we will finalize the optimization of mass production of pheromone and of the controlled release devices and proceed with execution of the commercialization plan. The objectives of this second year of our Phase II are to: Task 1. Reliably synthesize E9, Z11-16:Al in large scale, Task 2. Optimize our mating disruption formulation and field technique using only sex-pheromone, Task 3. Optimize formulations and field techniques for the two strategies of attract and kill, Task 4. Map the distribution of pheromone and the presence of moths and male capture in traps. Task 5. Begin the optimization process of industrial production of PNC pheromone and of the different formulations ISCA is close to bringing this product to commercialization. In addition to the tests described above,
we have negotiated with a Texan organic pecan grower to test the Mating Disruption PNC formulation in 375 acres of his commercial farm, with another pecan grower to test PNC Attract and Kill in 60 acres of his farm. PNC pheromone production has been scaled up, and another chemist hired, in order to support these large field plots. The impact of this project to the Industry is that PNC, the key pest of Pecans will be economically and efficiently controlled with environmentally friendly, organic, sex pheromone tools, instead of the harsh pesticides currently used. Our EPA registration efforts are under way.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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