Tuta program overview and IPM

solutions for its management

Government of Nepal

Ministry of Agricultural Development

Department of AgriculturePlant Protection Directorate

Presented By: Lalit P. SahIPM Program Coordinator, IDE Nepal, Bakhundole, Lalitpur

National level workshop on Tuta absoluta Management

Dhulikhel Training Center, Kavre

October 30, 2017 (Monday)

Entry and Pathway for spread to other district…..

Exact entry for this pest is unknown but suspected to

introduced from neighboring countries India.

Outbreak in 2016 started from Kathmandu and surrounding

districts

Currently the pest continues its spread to other parts of the

country due to import of tomato with stems, leaves, or a

calyx (the green sepals of a flower that form an outer floral

envelope) in both boarder and in-country.

Import of the tomatoes fruits from one to another district

Packing materials, crates, boxes etc transporting from one

district to others

Seedlings, Tomato fruits, Farm equipments and transportations

vehicles

The most relevant due to lack of quarantine regulations one

regions to another

❧Central (Lalitpur, and Kavre)

❧Mid-western(Banke and Surkhet)

IPM Lab

Research Sites

1. Research verifying cum demotrations: Two broad protocols developed in Jan 2017

with GON & IPM Profs

Exclusion net: with IPM solutions

Open Field: Combined management of Tuta absoluta through Mass trapping and IPM

solutions with coordination between farmers.

Evaluation: colored sticky traps, other traps, bio-rational management

2. Monitoring and validation technologies

Assisting PPD: updates on Tuta presence in districts and impact assessment

Combining verification and demonstration IPM solutions for Tuta Absoluta

3. Tuta Solutions: Capacity Building and Supply Chain Development (USAID

ENBAITA playing a key role)

Training (TOT): Private Sector, Project Staff , and Government.

Supply Chain Development: India/National Companies to Hubs

(Pokhara, Bhairawa, Nepalgang, Danghadi) to District Agrovets to CBFs

Dissemination of information with PPD (workshops, confs, web, CABI, others)

IPM Lab Tuta Major Program Activities

A. IPM components for green houses with Pest Exclusion Nets

1. Grow tomato seedlings inside a netted nursery.

2. Destroy previous crop residue right after the last harvest.

3. Do not grow other host crops around the farm and remove host weeds.

4. Apply a bio-pesticide in the soil as a drenching after land is prepared.

5. Check the seedlings before transplanting to be free of Tuta eggs and larvae.

6. Double check the net to make sure the green house does not have holes.

7. Mass trapping with pheromone and light traps 7 days before transplanting

8. Spray a bio-pesticide or neem oil as soon as there are >5 Tuta moths

trapped

9. Ensure pollination various methods, such as hand pollination, can be used.

10. Keep the traffic flow in the green house low.

11. Install a tight and secure door

Netted High Tunnel,Ranagaun, Lalitpur

B. For Open Fields / Open Green Houses with No Pest Exclusion Net

1. Grow tomato seedlings inside a nylon net.

2. Destroy previous crop residue after the last harvest.

3. Do not grow other host crops around the farm and remove host weeds.

4. Apply a bio-pesticide in the soil as a drenching after land is prepared.

5. Check the seedlings before transplanting to ensure they are free of Tuta eggs and larvae.

6. Best practice is to use plastic mulch to help identify and reduce pupation in the soil.

7. Mass trapping with pheromone and light traps 7 days before transplanting.

8. Spray a bio-pesticide as soon as there are >5 Tuta moths trapped per day.

9. Alternate applications of botanical pesticides with bio-pesticides at 7 to 10 days

interval.

10. Make regular field inspections to look for infestations.

11. Remove and destroy infected leaves, shoots and fruits.

12. Spray chemical pesticide as a last resort rescue operation.

Lalitpur

Average # of Tuta moths trapped in a wota trap in PEN house is lower than that of open conditions

Some findings on Tuta Research Trials

PEN OPEN

Mean # of Moth catched in the trap 50.00 184.75 % of reduction of moth in the net house

72.94

Trial during the Nursery stage(in Lalitpur and

Kavre)

% of of seedling infested with Tuta in PEN

is lower that that of open

Fruit infestations remain low in the PEN house as

compared to open cultivation.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Orange White Yellow Green

13

17

14

16

Mea

n n

um

ber

of

Tu

ta m

oth

cap

ture

d p

er w

ee

k

Color of Delta sticky trap

Orange White Yellow Green

According to the result the mean number of Tuta absoluta adult captured per week was found to be highest

where white sticky delta trap has been used . So, white sticky delta trap with pheromone lure was more

effective.

Efficacy verification of different color traps, wota -T trap

and light trap with pheromone lures.

Colored sticky traps: with 3 replications

T1: Orange

T2: white

T3: Yellow

T4 : Green

Wota -T trap (Different height)

0

5

10

15

20

Ground level 1 Feet 2 feet 3 feet 4 feet

15

1211

8

2

Mea

n n

um

ber

of

Tu

ta m

oth

cap

ture

d p

er w

eek

Height of the trap placed

Ground level 1 Feet 2 feet 3 feet 4 feet

According to the result the mean number of Tuta absoluta adult captured per week was found to be highest at

the ground level position of the trap which is followed by 1 feet position and so on. Above 3 feet there were very

less number of moth catch.

Contd..

Height of wota-T trap with TLM lure; T1: Ground level T2: 1 Feet T3: 2 feet T4: 3 feet and T5: more than 3 feet

After that another experiment wascarried out to find the number ofTuta moth trapped at different height(0ft, 1ft, 2ft,3ft,<3ft) of light trapplacement.

25 watt CFL(warm white) bulb.

Light was turned on at morning from4am to 5am

And at evening from 7pm to 9pm

After one week number of mothswere counted

Photo: Light trap placed at different height

Light trap: Different height

352

252

215

151

72

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Ground level 1 feet 2 feet 3 feet above 3 feet

Nu

mb

er

of Tuta

mo

th t

rap

pe

d

Light trap placed at different height

Light trap: Different height

Regular supply of agricultural inputs including bio-agents.

Collect information about demand for agro-inputs from local farmers and deal

directly with district-level agro-input suppliers for timely delivery.

A formal contract(8-15%) from, the input suppliers. At present, >105 CBFs

have been trained and developed by different projects, including 10 by IPM

IL.

CBFs are earning an average of NRs 6000 (US$60) per month, ranging from

NRs 2,000 ($20) to NRs 12,500 ($125).

Average sales per month are around NRs 25,000 ($250) to 150,000 ($1500).

On average, a CBF provides his or her services to 90 to 100 farmers every

month.

Number of TLM Lures sold by PCI distributors in Nepal till September

15, 2017=>35000 (source: Nawa Sambridhi Enterprises): Lures for this pest is

increasing on every months. Most of the lures are mostly supplied into the

Kathmandu and adjacent districts of Nepal.

iDE/IPM Lab is developing last mile supply chains for IPM products

and Tuta IPM solutions

iPMobile - SMS Combating the Tuta Pest

Rural Collection Centers

Provide market access and

many services to farmers(Including detailed climate-

smart crop calendars, linkages to services, and

government).

Commercial Pocket Approach.

Commercial Pockets generally encompass 200 to 2,000

farmers usually within about a 1 hour walk to a

Collection Center.

Community Business Facilitators (CBFs)

Last mile supply chains Actors for agricultural

technologies

CBFs are entrepreneurial farmers trained by iDE who

provide support to rural farmers and work closely with

Collection Centers.

They receive a commission on the sale of agricultural

inputs including safe Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

technologies from district-based agricultural product

suppliers.

Before the implementation of the SMS system,

200 farmers have contacted CBFs for the purchase of agro-inputs. However, after the implementation of the SMS system, 360 farmers have contacted CBFs i.e. 80% more farmers have contacted CBFs.

After the implementation of the SMS system the

HHs coverage have expanded by 11%.

38% of the annual transaction increased resulting 44% increase in the income.

Impacts after implementation :SMS on IPM solutions

Tuta Capacity Building, Supply Chain, Awareness

Capacity Building (TOT, Mar to Sept 2017). iPM Lab with iDE Projects

(ENBAITA, Anukulan, ELIVES) have trained over 1,000 private sector participants (Nepal

Companies, Agrovets, CBFs) and 147 Project and Government Staff.

Supply Chain (IPM Lab and Primarily USAID ENBAITA). ENBAITA Partner Pest

Control India (PCI) the main manufacturer of Tuta IPM products provided resource people

for training. Over 200 CBFs have been trained in Tuta IPM. Preliminary estimate 16,000

HHs have been reached thru IPM Lab/iDE efforts with Tuta control technologies.

Selected Awareness Activities from Jan 2017:

Paper presentations: 3 (ICBCL, APPC, NPPO/PPD) 1,756 participants. Nepal Tuta

work accepted for presentation: ESA meeting, Denver, Nov, 2017)

Publication : Management practices adopted by commercial tomato growers against Tuta

absoluta, NJAS, 2017 Vol 15 Pp 93-97

Other: Close Coordination GON/PPD, Website (Nepali, English), videos, Social

Media, regular Tuta Monitoring updates, Highlight in All Workshops, Partnership with

CABI, and more

Nearly 100 Demonstrations of Tuta IPM tech in 18 Districts.

Conclusions

1. Over the last year, T. absoluta distribution has been seen across the mid-hill

region and migrating to terrai region of Nepal.

2. Preliminary assessments are that the IPM Tuta Solutions are effective.

Pheromone based control of Tuta is recommended in combinations with

Biopesticides (Neem and BT). Pest exclusion net with combined

managements techniques is the most effective means for preventing Tuta. It is

well suited for the monsoon tomato production using high tunnel which has

very high returns.

3. The IPM that employs the holistic approach is a best alternative. we have at

hand for Tuta management.

4. The pheromone based control of Tuta is more recommended to be used in

combinations with other techniques(Biopesticides, and Neem based) which

controls infestations of tomato.

5. Pest exclusion net with combine managements techniques will be effective

means for preventing Tuta .

6. iDE/IPM Lab is making progress to develop last mile supply chains for IPM

products and Tuta IPM solutions but the scale needed is larger that can be

currently tackled.

Tuta absoluta is a major national issue and requires a coordinated approach to extend the best science to control Tuta and eliminate completely.

Formation & mobilization of PPD/DOA led Task Force to update and disseminate

best current control technologies to prioritize testing and verification of IPM solutions

(IPM Innovation Lab can facilitate, support accessing best international science and

verification of technologies)

The task force should quantify the affected tomato farmers: Affected farmers should

report through agricultural sectors to enable the PPD to set the action plan.

Educate administrators, scientists and the public about the impending danger of

Tuta absoluta invasions. This will include conducting awareness campaigns involving

tomato farmers.

Dissemination and scale-up of best current technologies. Based on task force

recommendations orientation and training to public sector, private sector, development

programs/projects, farmers/farmer field schools, and others (IPM Lab can facilitate

supporting materials/training activities).

Way forward to address the Tuta absoluta

Contd..

Creating an efficient Integrated Pest Management(IPM) strategies that suit

Nepal context and should also include capacity building program on IPM.

Push the mass trapping of the pest using sex pheromones traps with most affected

areas should be given high priority. This will call for increases importation of traps

by GoN. The GoN through MOA needs to subsidize the cost of traps and

lures.

Excessive use of pesticides pose environmental challenges, so there is a need of

encourage bio-friendly pesticides as means of controlling and preventing leaf

miners.

Adopt both boarder and in-country quarantine measures to prevent its

introductions into new districts. These would include such steps as not allowing

the import of tomato with stems, leaves, or a calyx (the green sepals of a flower

that form an outer floral envelope).

Development and dissemination of field kits for proper identification and leveling

of pests and its natural enemies.

IPM Lab Key contacts:

• Lalit Sah (lpsah@ideglobal.org)

• Mukti Devkota(mdevkota@ideglobal.org)

• Komal Pradhan (kpradhan@ideglobal.org)

• Luke Colavito (lcolavito@ideglobal.org)

• Bimala Colavito (brcolavito@ideglobal.org)

IPM and Tuta information, packages, videos

• Tuta: http://www.idenepal.org/what/Tuta.html

• IPM: http://www.idenepal.org/what/ipm.html

• iDE Nepal website: www.idenepal.org

Thank you!!!

IPM Lab Tuta Training, Kathmandu, Mar 2017