8th International Conference on Integrated Fruit Protection
Octubre 2012
Comunicaciones científicas | Cera-Trap®
Nuria Sierras, Yüce Pala, Meriç Özakman, Nedim Altin, Gelgeç Levent, Erdogan Kunter R&D Plant Physiology Division Bioibérica, S.AAgricon Ltd. Co; Altintar; Lances Link, 8th International Conference on Integrated Fruit Protection Kusadasi, Izmir, Turquía Inglés
The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a key pest of many fruit crops throughout the world. The eradication programs of this pest have typically entailed the use of chemical insecticide sprays. Nowadays, these practices are controversial because of their adverse effects on humans, non-target organism and the environment. For these reasons, more environmentally friendly solutions for medfly control are searched. CeraTrap is an attractant completely free of pesticides in its formulation and none is required in the traps. It is based on a liquid protein obtained by an exclusive method of enzymatic hydrolysis and has a strong attraction capacity for medfly. Furthermore, genitalia scientific assays, has demonstrated that CeraTrap shows higher attraction ratios for females than males, being especially attractive for young unmated females which are captured before they are able to punctured the fruits. The system works thanks to a regular emission of volatile compounds and as a result of that the fly strongly attracted enters into the trap baited with the hydrolyzed protein and being unable to escape drowns into the liquid and dies. Several field trials were carried out over the last five years in different countries showing a successfully control of the medfly pest. Field trials were carried out in Antalya and Mugla (Turkey) on oranges (cv. Washington) during 2010 and 2011, assessing the number of captures and punctured fruit. The obtained results suggest that CeraTrap decrease fruit fly infestation and therefore pest damage on fruits.