4TH International Congress on Technology - Engineering & SCIENCE - Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia (2017-08-05)

Mechanical Release Of Predator Insects For The Biological Control Of Colorado Potato Beetle
The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) is the major insect pest of potato crops worldwide. So far, no registered chemical insecticide has been capable of effectively managing this insect pest. Indeed, the CPB has developed over the years a resistance to most of the registered chemical insecticides. The biological control of the CPB through manual release of its natural enemies has been successful at small scale. However, hand release of these predators at large scale is unrealistic. In this context, a mechanical release system of predator insects has been designed, built, and successfully tested in the laboratory and in potato fields under real conditions. Obtained results indicate that the use of the mechanical release system allowed a control of the CPB populations comparable to that of the manual release. The success of this mechanical release system in potato fields is highly valuable. This mechanical release system could be successfully used for the biological control of insect pests in other row crops such as strawberry, lettuce, etc.
Mohamed Khelifi, Saad Almady, Antoine Karam