Tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta).: Tuta absoluta;
Publication: PlantwisePlus Knowledge Bank
Pest Management Decision Guides
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Prevention
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Use pest-free transplants. Inspect new seedlings carefully before they are transplanted.
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Seal door and window frames of greenhouses. Plug any openings with insect-proof netting.
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Remove and destroy weeds and alternative host plants, e.g. Datura, Solanum species.
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Avoid rotation with or planting near, solanaceous crops such as eggplants and Irish potatoes.
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Rotate with non-host plants such as maize, beans and cabbages.
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Avoid staggered tomato cropping.
Monitoring
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Tuta absoluta is a small moth, active at night. The larvae mines tomato leaves.
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Start monitoring immediately after crop establishment. Monitor twice a week for early damage. Examine leaves, stems and fruits.
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Look for: Blotch shaped mines and droppings on leaves, stems and fruit. Leaf mines are wide and gradually become brown and necrotic. Exit holes on the surface of fruits. Silver/grey brown moths (5-7mm long) underneath leaves.
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Use pheromone traps, light traps or sticky traps to detect the pest early.
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Consider taking action once you notice 1-3 moths in a pheromone trap per day.
Direct Control
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Remove infested tomato plant materials and destroy by burning or burying in holes more than 50cm deep.
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Destroy plant residues after harvest by burning or burying.
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Neem oil (1% or 0.3% azadirachtin). Apply 30ml/15L of neem oil (1% Azad.), and 75ml/15L of neem oil (0.3% Azad.). Aqueous neem kernel extract (ANKE) at 50g/L or 750g/15L.
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Use pheromone baited water traps to mass trap adult male moths.
Restrictions
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Pesticides should always be used in a lawful manner, consistent with the products label.
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Use PPE when applying pesticides.
Direct Control
Spray with emamectin benzoate based insecticide at 15ml/15L. Maximum 3 applications per season. Apply in the morning and later in the day.
WHO Class II (Moderately hazardous). IRAC 4A. PHI IS 5 days; REI 24hrs. Eye and skin irritants. Toxic to bees and other non-target arthropods.
Spray chlorfenapyr based product at 15mls15/L. Maximum 3 applications per season. Apply in the morning or later in the day.
WHO Class III (Slightly hazardous). IRAC 13. PHI 3 days, REI 24hrs. Eye and skin irritants. Highly toxic to bees and other arthropods.
Indexing Terms
Descriptors
- weeds
- weeding
- tomatoes
- sticky traps
- rotations
- pruning
- planting stock
- plant pests
- plant oils
- pheromone traps
- pests
- pest management
- neem seed extract
- monitoring
- light traps
- insecticides
- insect pests
- extension
- emamectin
- cultural control
- cropping systems
- crop production
- control
- chlorfenapyr
- chemical control
- insect control
- pest control
- arthropod pests
Identifiers
Organism Descriptors
Geographical Location
Broader Terms
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Pest Management Decision Guides
Pest Management Decision Guide: Green and Yellow List
Applicable geographic locations
Africa, Ghana
Copyright
© CABI 2023. This article is published under aCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0)Published under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 licence
History
Published online: 1 January 2023
Issue publication date: 1 January 2023
Language
English
Authors
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