Root Maggots threat!

Root maggots are the immature stage, or larvae, of small flies that belong to the insect order Diptera i.e. flies and the family Anthomyiidae. Root maggots occur worldwide. They are short-lived insects. Maggots are not particularly large creatures; their maximum length being 1/4^th of an inch. The maggots are – cream colored, elongate with the head end pointed. Root maggots thrive in organic matter.

Root maggots constitute the most serious annually recurring insect pest problem of vegetable production. They attack all varieties of crucifiers. When root maggot larvae feed on root crops such as turnip, rutabaga, and radish, they leave surface scars and feeding tunnels thus literally scarring the plant. Any feeding scars may render the product unacceptable for market thus causing severe losses. The root is severely damaged. Feeding tunnels make the plant vulnerable to infection by soft-rot bacteria and to secondary infestation by springtails and thrips. Feeding by root maggot larvae on the stem, leaf and flowering crucifers like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts and kohlrabi results in the severe decline in the health of the plant. Young plants may be girdled and may die. Root systems in older plants may be extensively damaged and the taproot may be destroyed completely.

Root maggots attack different crops like cabbage, onion, canola, etc. They are named based on the crops that they target as canola root maggot, cabbage root maggot, onion root maggot, etc.

The cabbage maggot, Delia radicum, is a sporadic pest of many Cole crops including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, turnips, radishes, and other crops of the mustard family. Occasionally, they attack other vegetables such as beet and celery. When cabbage maggots emerge, they immediately start feeding on the roots of the host plant seedlings. Plants are more susceptible to cabbage maggots during a wet, cold spring with most of the damage limited to the early spring plantings. Injury from the second generation in late June or July is usually not severe because the maggots prefer cool, moist conditions and younger, tender plants. Maggots feed on the root hair and can create extensive, slimy tunnels on the root surface and throughout the roots. Larvae feed on roots and tunnel into the taproot, producing brown streaks on the root. The lower leaves of infested plants often turn yellow, with severe damage resulting in arrested plant growth. Feeding damage may also promote disease, causing further stress on the plant. Root maggots and root disease often show up together in the same field.

Severe root maggot damage can occur in fields with back to back canola plantations if crop rotation is not followed. Based on average canola prices, the yield losses quantified in the study were equivalent to $108-$140 per acre after only three years of continuous canola. In canola, severe maggot infestations can cause plant wilting, stunting and reduced flowering, decreased seed weight, and lower seed yields. If feeding tunnels are extensive and girdle the root, plant lodging and death can occur. Roots damaged by these maggots are more susceptible to invasion by root pathogens such as Fusarium than intact roots. Yield reductions of the range of 50 and 19 percent from root maggot damage for crops of Brassica rapa L. and B. napus L., respectively, have been reported. In a four-year survey conducted by a team of scientists, of nearly 3000 canola fields across Western Canada, the greatest degree of damage over the largest area was found in central, western and northwestern Alberta, although localized areas with severely damaged roots occurred along the northern edge of the entire Parkland eco region. Soil type can play a part in the degree of root maggot infestation of canola.

The onion maggot (Delia antique) is one of the most destructive insect pests of onions and related plants. Injured seedlings wilt and die. Larger bulbs may survive some injury but are often poor keepers. Once onion maggots infest an area, they seem to be a problem every year. White onion varieties are more susceptible to attack than other varieties. Stunted or wilting onion plants are the first signs of onion maggot damage. At this time, you may find the maggots in putrid, decomposing onion plants. Light infestations may not kill onions but may make them more susceptible to rots. Onions of all sizes may be attacked, especially in the fall, when cooler weather favors the maggot’s activity. Damaged onions are not marketable and will rot in storage causing other onions to rot.

Let us look at the following news article about root maggot damage.

Continuous canola can lead to root maggot damage 

CONTINUAL DROP Study finds drop in yields significant  after the first year 

Posted Oct. 5th, 2012

If your rotation is canola, snow, and canola again, you’re setting yourself up for a root maggot infestation. 

Insects love it when you grow the same crop year after year, and root maggots and canola are no exception, University of Alberta entomologist Lloyd Dosdall told attendees at a recent Alberta Canola industry update seminar. 

Dosdall was part of a research team that examined how canola rotation — or the lack of it — affects crop damage, yield, and seed quality. The study examined 13 different treatments done across Western Canada at five different sites from 2008 to 2011. 

Several sites were continuously cropped with canola, while others had a canola-wheat-canola rotation or only had canola in one of the three years. At the end of the season, researchers examined root damage to determine the severity of root maggot infestation. 

“The damage to canola that was grown continuously was more severe than when canola was rotated,” said Dosdall. 

Root maggot larvae overwinter in soil and the study found the damage they cause increased every year. 

“We had the highest yields in the first year of continuous canola, and then they just dropped down significantly in the following two years,” he said. 

Dosdall said the loss from continuous cropping ranged from a loss of $280 to $380 per hectare.

Hence to help alleviate or else completely eradicate the infestation we C Tech Corporation provide you with the best effective solution Combirepel™.Combirepel™ is an anti-insect aversive developed on the grounds of green chemistry and technology.

Our product works on the mechanism of repellency. It temporarily inhibits the mating cycle of the insects. The product impairs the ability of the insects to reproduce, that is the insects will not lay eggs or the laid eggs will be infertile. The product causes feeding disruption in an insect by triggering an unpleasant reaction within the insect which might try to feed on the application. The product temporarily blocks the reproduction system of the insects by hindering the release of the vital hormones for growth.

Combirepel™ is thermally stable and does not degrade on exposure to heat and sunlight. It does not kill or harm the insect but repels them. It does not volatilize and does not degrade the soil. It is RoHS, RoHS2, ISO, REACH, APVMA, NEA compliant and FIFRA exempted.

Combirepel™ is an eco-friendly product which acts as an aversive to repel the pesky insects like roaches. Combirepel™ do not kill the targeted as well as non-targeted species but just repel them causing no harm any to human and environment.

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August 29, 2018

Coptotermes acinaciformis: A major cause of wood damage in Australia

Be it homeowners, hotel owners, library owners or theatre owners, they have one enemy in common and they are termites!! And when they are as dangerous as Coptotermes acinaciformis, there is a great reason to worry about. Let’s get to know more about these species.

Coptotermes acinaciformis can be found in widespread areas throughout Australia. They are predominantly found in urban areas and where eucalypts are abundant. They are the second most destructive termite in Australia and cause the greatest amount of structural damage to buildings, timber structures, trees and electrical wiring.

These species are most commonly found in the base of trees and stumps and in built in patios, under concrete slabs and buried timber, wherever there is moisture and a secure hiding place to form a nest. They love it between garden sheds and the fence when timber is left there. One of the most destructive elements of this species is that it can form ancillary nests, away from the main colony, particularly in wall cavities.

Coptotermes acinaciformis are subterranean termite species 5.0-6.6 mm in length, and they have sabre like the mandibles with no obvious teeth. The labrum is not grooved and the head is pear-shaped and rounded laterally. Fontanelle is obvious on the anterior part of the head. Tarsi (skeleton) have 4 segments and abdominal cerci have 2 segments. It pronotum(dorsal) is flat and it does not have any anterior lobe.

The life cycle of these species is a gradual process. Queen lays eggs singly. A nymph after hatching passes through 4-7 moults before becoming a mature worker, soldier or winged reproductive. Nymphs resemble the adults or mature castes. Nymphal stage lasts approximately 2-3 months, depending of food and climatic conditions. No pupal stage exists. Soldiers and workers live for 1-2 years.

There are 4 different castes of adults:

Queen and King:

The queen and king are the original winged reproductives (dealates). When a new colony is formed the pair must feed and care for the young until there are sufficient soldiers and workers to take over the duties of the colony.

Worker:

This is the most abundant caste in the colony, performing all the tasks except defence and reproduction. It is this caste that does damage to timber. These are the males and females whose sexual organs and characteristics have not developed. They are wingless, blind and sterile. They also have a thin cuticlewhich makes them susceptible to desiccation. They are the kind of species which will leave the security of underground tunnels and shelter tubes only when humidity is high or in the search for new food sources.

Soldier:

This is the most distinctive and the easiest caste from which to identify a species. The role of this caste is to defend the colony. These consist of males and females whose sexual organs and characteristics have not developed. Li ke the workers caste, they are susceptible to dessication and seldom leave the colony or shelter ubes. The fontanelle is used to discharge a secretion associated with defence, since it is a repellent to ants and other enemies of termites.

Reproductive:

They are the future kings and queens. Having compound eyes, they are darker in colour and have a more dense cuticle than workers and soldiers. They are often large. When fully winged(alates) a colonising flight will occur when humidity and temperature conditions outside approximate the conditions inside the colony, normally in summer months.

These mostly nests in trees, stumps, poles or filled-in verandahs where timber has been buried. Soil contact is desirable, but not essential depending on an assured water supply and security in its habitat.

Workers feed on wood, wood products, leaves, bark and grass. The cellulose of wood is digested by intestinal protozoa. The other castes are fed by the workers from oral and anal excretions. Protein is also required in the diet, which is usually supplied by fungi that decay wood and vegetation.

Coptotermes “acinaciformis” gets its name from the fact that the soldiers excrete formic acid from their mouths when they are threatened. This poses a problem for wiring in buildings infested with this species. These are most widely distributed timber pest in Australia, accounting for more than 70% of the serious damage to buildings in New South Wales. A single colony may consist of more than one million termites.

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August 29, 2018

Destructive insect damaging our grapevines!

The glassy-winged sharpshooter is a large leafhopper species native to the southeastern United States. It is one of the main vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, a plant pathogen that causes a variety of plant diseases, including phony peach disease of peach and Pierce’s disease of grape. It obtains its nutrients by feeding on plant fluids in the water-conducting tissues of a plant. Feeding on plants rarely causes significant plant damage, although the insects do excrete copious amounts of liquid that can make leaves and fruit appear whitewashed when dry. The excrement is a special nuisance when shade trees are heavily infested because cars parked under the trees tend to become spotted. During hot weather, heavy populations of glassy-winged sharpshooters feeding on small plants may cause them to wilt.

The real problem associated with a glassy-winged sharpshooter, however, is that it can spread the disease-causing bacterium Xylella fastidiosa from one plant to another. This bacterium is the causal agent of devastating plant diseases such as Pierce’s disease of grape, oleander leaf scorch, almond leaf scorch and mulberry leaf scorch. Other diseases to landscape plants in California include sweet gum dieback and cherry plum leaf scorch. When a glassy-winged sharpshooter feeds on a plant that is infected with X. fastidiosa, it acquires the bacteria, which multiplies within the insect’s mouthparts. The sharpshooter then transfers the bacteria to another plant when it feeds. The glassy-winged sharpshooter feeds on plants through straw-like mouthparts inserted into the xylem tissue which conducts water throughout the plant. Because nutrients are diluted in xylem fluid, the insect must process large volumes to meet nutritional needs. Thus, this pest produces copious amounts of watery excreta and is a social nuisance as the liquid rains down from large populations feeding on ornamental trees.

In infested citrus orchards, tree canopies take on a white-washed appearance by mid-summer due to the buildup of residues after the evaporation of these watery excreta. Different strains of this bacterium induce severe diseases in many agricultural and ornamental plants. In ornamental horticulture, an important part of the landscape in the southwest will be lost if oleander leaf scorch continues to spread and resistant oleander varieties are not found. Oleander is found in 20% of all home gardens in California and is a mainstay of landscapes in shopping centers, parks, and golf courses. It is estimated that Caltrans alone stands to suffer at least a $52 million loss if oleander on highway plantings is lost. In the city of Tustin (Orange County), approximately $200,000 was requisitioned to pay for removal of oleanders maintained on city greenbelts and for replanting other ornamental species. Another huge economic problem lies in the transport of ornamentals by wholesale nurseries as this industry is subjected to rigorous inspections and mandatory insecticide applications to minimize the accidental shipment of the glassy-winged sharpshooter into uninfested areas of California. The Agriculture Appropriation Act of 2002 included $8.5 million in funding for controlling the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

The below article would better explain these menacing insects.

Pesky, destructive insect discovered in Marin

March 13, 2015

By Chris Rooney

As if unreliable weather patterns aren’t enough to drive grape growers over the edge, a new threat for vintners has reared its ugly head in Marin County — the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

“People need to know how devastating this pest can be,” Marin County Agricultural Commissioner Stacy Carlsen said. “We want to keep it out of the county.”

The destructive insect sucks the fluids out of plants and can wreak horticultural havoc in agricultural areas. One critter was recently found in Marin County during a routine inspection of a nursery shipment from Ventura County.

Despite thorough efforts to inspect plants being shipped from southern California to local nurseries, Carlsen said the sharpshooter can sneak by.

“Check your plants and make sure there are no hitchhikers,” Carlsen said.

Carlsen reported that an agricultural program assistant with the Marin County Department of Agriculture captured an adult glassy-winged sharpshooter on Feb. 26 while checking an incoming plant shipment.

According to a Bay City News report, that shipment has since been returned, but the name of the nursery that sent it is being withheld to prevent unwanted attention, according to the Department of Agriculture.

The species damages a wide variety of plants and spreads lethal diseases to crops such as almonds and grapes for which there are no known cures.

According to the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program, the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis, is an insect that was inadvertently introduced into southern California in the early 1990s.

It is native to the southeastern United States and was most likely brought into California accidentally as egg masses in ornamental or agricultural plant foliage.

The real problem associated with a glassy-winged sharpshooter, however, is that it can spread the disease-causing bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, from one plant to another. This bacterium is the causal agent of devastating plant diseases such as Pierce’s disease of grape, oleander leaf scorch, almond leaf scorch and mulberry leaf scorch. Other diseases to landscape plants in California include sweet gum dieback and cherry plum leaf scorch.

The principal reason for controlling the glassy-winged sharpshooter is to prevent the spread of the Xylella bacterium to susceptible plants. Because very low numbers of sharpshooters can spread the disease, it is not known how effective insecticides applied to suppress sharpshooters will be in controlling disease spread; research is currently underway to study this issue.

The current strategy for containing the problem is to keep the insect out of new areas.

What we need is a solution which would effectively keep the glassy-winged sharpshooter population in check, keeping them away from our trees, while at the same time not having any negative impact on the environment.

Combirepel™ liquid concentrate can be mixed in the paints to cover the areas like cracks and crevices of walls and hidden places where the roaches tend to survive.

Combirepel™ lacquer is the topical coating to cover the places like bathrooms, cupboards, steam tunnels, etc.

Hence we provide you with the best effective solution.

Follow us on our Twitter pages at:
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2] https://twitter.com/termirepel
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August 29, 2018

Webworm spinning a deadly web around your trees…

Webworms are the caterpillar form of a small white moth. The moths fly around during the summer laying their eggs on the underside of tree leaves. The moths seem to prefer alder, willow, cottonwood, apple, pear, peach, pecan, walnut, elm, and maples but will eat a very large variety of trees and shrubs.

The fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea, is a moth in the family Arctiidae known principally for its larval stage, which creates the characteristic webbed nests on the tree limbs of a wide variety of hardwoods in the late summer and fall. The moth is native to North America, ranging from Canada to Mexico, and is one of the few insect pests introduced from North America into other continents all over the world. It now has occupied probably its entire range in Europe from France to the Caspian Sea in the east. It has also penetrated into Central Asia. It has spread into China, southern Mongolia, Korea and southern Primorsky Krai of Russia and is now considered holarctic in distribution.

One or two generations of the pest occur in a year. However, in Tennessee, several generations may occur in a year. This pest tends to go through periodic population explosions. Outbreaks every four to seven years may last for two to three years.

The adult moth lays her eggs on the underside of leaves in ‘hair’-covered clusters of a few hundred. Eggs hatch in about a week. The caterpillars are highly variable in coloration, ranging from a pale yellow to dark grey, with yellow spots and long and short bristle. The maximum length is 35 mm. Webs are progressively enlarged, and much messier looking than those of other caterpillars. Larvae feed inside the tents until the late instars. Very young larvae feed only on the upper surfaces of leaves. Later, they consume whole leaves. The larval stage lasts about four to six week. The larval stage of this pest skeletonizes and consumes leaves inside the protection of a tent-like web that they enlarge as they require additional food and grow. On shade trees, webs usually occur on occasional branches. The fall webworm feeds on just about any type of deciduous tree. It feeds on almost 90 species of deciduous trees commonly attacking hickory, walnut, birch, cherry, and crabapple wherein leaves are chewed; in result, the branches or the entire tree may become defoliated.

The fall webworm is a widely distributed native pest of shade trees and shrubs and appears from late summer through early fall. This species acts similarly to the eastern tent caterpillar, but the fall webworm constructs its nest over the end of the branch rather than at tree crotches. The large conspicuous webs contain caterpillars, dead partially eaten leaves, and fecal droppings.

This pest usually eats leaves late in the season and the nests are generally concentrated to limited areas. Although trees experience heavy damage from webworms in the fall, it is the summer defoliations that cause the most stress on the trees. Summertime is when pecan trees are actively developing their nut crop and storing food for the winter in their roots. By the time defoliations occur in the fall, the impact to the tree is minimized because it has stored its winter food and produced its pecans. Fall webworms in South Texas prefer pecan trees to most other trees but will munch on mulberry, hickory, oak, willow or redbud just as readily. The webs are made by groups of caterpillars hatched from the same egg mass. Webworm caterpillars and moths are active at night when most of their predators (paper wasps, hornets, and birds) are inactive. The caterpillars feed on leaf material and leave the stems and veins behind. Although these caterpillars are hairy, they do not sting; however, they can cause an irritating rash if their hairs come in contact with human skin.

Webworms enclose small branches and leaves in their light gray colored webs. Constant infestations of individual trees will cause limb and branch diebacks. There are several chemicals that help to control the webworms, but they may not be practical due to the problems related to application complications in larger trees.

Combirepel™ liquid concentrate can be mixed in the paints to cover the areas like cracks and crevices of walls and hidden places where the roaches tend to survive.

Combirepel™ lacquer is the topical coating to cover the places like bathrooms, cupboards, steam tunnels, etc.

Hence we provide you with the best effective solution.

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August 29, 2018

Gall wasps destroying trees…

Another teeny tinny insect is here to cause unprecedented and huge damage to our trees and plants. The gall wasps, also called gallflies, are a family (Cynipidae). Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1300 species of this generally very small creature (1-8 mm) are known worldwide, with about 360 species of 36 different genera in Europe and some 800 species in North America.

The larvae of most gall wasps develop in characteristic plant galls they induce themselves, but many species are also inquilines of other gall wasps. The plant galls mostly develop directly after the female insect lays the eggs. The inducement for the gall formation is largely unknown; discussion speculates as to chemical, mechanical, and viral triggers. The hatching larvae nourish themselves with the nutritive tissue of the galls, in which they are otherwise well-protected from external environmental effects. The host plants and the size and shape of the galls are specific to the majority of gall wasps, whereas about 70% of the known species live in various types of oak trees. One can find galls on nearly all parts of such trees, some on the leaves, the buds, the branches, and the roots. Other species of gall wasps live in eucalyptus trees, rose bushes or maple trees, as well as many herbs. Frequently, the determination of the species is much easier through observation of the galls produced rather than the insect itself.

A gall provides the developing gall wasp with a safe refuge for the most vulnerable stage of its life cycle, but many other wasps have found a way to penetrate this defense and parasitize the larvae within. Some of these parasitoids use their long, hardened egg-laying tube (ovipositor) to bore into the gall and lay an egg on the helpless gall maker.

The galls cause the upper surface of the leaf to lighten in color and form a kind of blister that is often tinged with a yellow halo. Severe infestations will cause the leaf tips to turn brown. Heavily damaged leaves may curl and fall from the tree and the entire crown of the tree may be affected. Each gall contains a single wasp larva that feeds on the inner lining of the gall. The galls drop to the ground when they have matured. The activity of the larva inside the gall actually makes the gall jump around on the ground after they have fallen from the tree. The insect overwinters inside the gall. In the spring, the females emerge and lay their eggs in newly opened leaf buds. The galls form in response to chemicals in the larva’s saliva.

Gall makers must attack the plant at a very precise time if normal plant tissue is to be successfully stimulated to form a gall. It has been shown that trees whose buds open earlier than nearby trees have larger numbers of these galls than trees whose buds opened later.

Let us look at the below news article demonstrating the effects of gall wasps damage;

Tiny insect menace chokes trees across Cape Cod

20 Oct 2013

Dennis, Mass. — A minuscule menace is buried in the gnarled, deformed limbs of black oak trees across Cape Cod, slowly choking them to death.

Its common name — the crypt gall wasp — is like something out of a horror movie, but for property owners, the evil it wreaks is all too real.

Hordes of the tiny wasps deposit their eggs in the trees’ new spring growth. The larvae grow inside the wood and form swelled chambers known as galls.

A year later, the adult wasps — measuring only 5 millimeters — emerge through pinprick holes in the wood and repeat the cycle over again, cutting off the system that distributes nutrients throughout the tree.

Starved of food, twig growth slows, leaves turn brown and eventually if the infestation continues unabated, the tree may die.

Even though much is known about the tree-killing culprit, much is still a mystery, including whether it is a native or wash-ashore.

“So little is known about the life cycle,” Russ Norton, the educator in horticulture at the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, said.

Norton, who is monitoring a research site in Nickerson State Park in Brewster, and other researchers are working to fill in those gaps.

Recently, workers with Arborjet, a Woburn company that tests and sells tree injection systems and insecticides, took a stand against the crypt gall wasp in Dennis Village Cemetery, a setting seemingly made for the fight against the pernicious pest with the deathly name.

Arborjet is working with University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor of entomology Joseph Elkinton and one of his graduate students to study the best ways to deliver insecticide that will stop the wasps in their tracks.

Researchers are not even convinced the species has been correctly identified, Elkinton and Arborjet officials said.

“We’re starting from square one with this insect,” Elkington said.

Widespread damage from the wasp became apparent on Martha’s Vineyard a couple of years ago, he said.

But, while a similar infestation on Long Island crashed after only three years, the outbreak on the Vineyard has lasted longer.

On Cape Cod, property owners and arborists started seeing widespread damage in 2012.

“You probably don’t even see the symptoms for two years,” Peter Wild, CEO, and founder of Arborjet said.

At the Dennis Village Cemetery, Arborjet’s Don Grosman demonstrated how the injection systems use the tree’s vascular system to transport chemicals to fight the wasps, Grosman said.

A small black plug called an arborplug is inserted into holes drilled into the trunk, he said.

A needle attached to a pressurized reservoir is then connected to the plug, forcing the chemicals into the tree’s active tissue.

The company is testing two solutions: TREE-age, which relies on emamectin benzoate, a pesticide that causes insect paralysis, and IMA-jet, based on imidacloprid, a pesticide derived from synthetic nicotine, according to the National Pesticide Information Center, a collaboration of the University of Oregon and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Unlike spraying or other methods, injecting the chemicals keeps them contained within the tree and out of the surrounding environment, Grosman said.

“We pride ourself in that we put everything into the tree,” he said.

Even so, only a small amount of each product is required, he said.

For a tree with a 20-inch diameter, only 8 grams of the solution is used, Grosman said.

Although work in Hawaii on a similar infestation in banyan trees has shown that the method works, the exact effects on the crypt gall wasps are not yet clear, Grosman said.

About 50 trees in Barnstable, West Harwich and Dennis were injected with the two chemicals. An additional 20 trees are being monitored as controls.

The effect on different levels of infestation is being studied, Grosman said.

The trees will be checked over several years to see how long the chemicals keep the wasps at bay.

So far, there are pockets of the infestation in black oaks across the Cape, he said.

“It’s widespread but at the same time it’s somewhat sporadic,” he said.

This could be because of changes in the weather such as drought or it could be because of other factors, such as disease or the amount of salt used on nearby roadways, Grosman said.

At the cemetery, digging for graves could even be a factor, he said.

Natural conditions could lead to a collapse in the wasp population, such as what happened in Long Island, he said.

Infestations of exotic species are the cost of climate change and global trade, Wild said.

Still, like so much else with the crypt gall wasp, there is much more to be learned, both men said.

Education is the first step, Wild said. “Usually by the time you call the arborist, it’s time to cut the tree down,” he said.

Once a gall begins to develop, it is almost impossible to stop or reverse its development. Unless registered insecticides can be applied when gall wasps are flying, they offer little or no effective measure of control. Lack of serious plant damage from leaf galls and the difficulty in proper timing of insecticide applications pose a strong argument against the use of insecticides to reduce galls on oak.

Moreover, chemical control is seldom suggested for management of leaf galls on oak. Cultural methods of control may be effective in reducing the impact of these insects. Some fallen leaves may harbor various life stages of gall-producing pests. Therefore, it may be useful to collect and destroy all infested leaves. Some of these pests overwinter in twigs and branches of the oak. Where such woody galls are detected, prune and destroy the infested plant material when the galls are small and have just started to develop. But this isn’t a 100 percent effective treatment and more treatment options need to be explored.

Combirepel™ liquid concentrate can be mixed in the paints to cover the areas like cracks and crevices of walls and hidden places where the roaches tend to survive.

Combirepel™ lacquer is the topical coating to cover the places like bathrooms, cupboards, steam tunnels, etc.

Hence we provide you with the best effective solution.

Follow us on our Twitter pages at:
1] https://twitter.com/rodrepel
2] https://twitter.com/termirepel
3] https://twitter.com/combirepel

August 29, 2018

Pests threatening global food Security!!

The dark cloud of pests looming over the agriculture sector is spreading and increasing at an alarming rate! Pests, considered as an age old enemy of agriculture, continue to thwart the sector by destroying the crops. Though tiny, they are capable of large scale destruction. They appear in large numbers, attack the vegetation and many times destroy the entire field or the produce. On average the pests are known to cause 10-16% agricultural produce loss. Toxic and hazardous pesticides of worth million dollars are used to curb this pest problem to little effect.

Moreover, the pests have now started moving to regions, previously unsuitable for their existence, because of global warming. It has been reported that pests are spreading towards the North and South Poles at a rate of nearly 3 km a year! This poses a great threat to global food security. With the increasing population, the demand for the food supply is increasing rapidly. In the midst of such situation, the report that the pests are spreading across the globe is surely alarming. The threat posed by these vile pests could lead towards a chaotic situation endangering the global food security. Let’s take a look at the following article which reports the spread of the pests;

Spread of crop pests threatens global food security as Earth warms

A new study has revealed that global warming is resulting in the spread of crop pests towards the North and South Poles at a rate of nearly 3 km a year.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change and carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford, shows a strong relationship between increased global temperatures over the past 50 years and expansion in the range of crop pests. Currently 10-16% of global crop production is lost to pests. Crop pests include fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes. The diversity of crop pests continues to expand and new strains are continually evolving. Losses of major crops to fungi, and fungi-like microorganisms, amount to enough to feed nearly nine percent of today’s global population. The study suggests that these figures will increase further if global temperatures continue to rise as predicted.

The spread of pests is caused by both human activities and natural processes but is thought to be primarily the result of international freight transportation. The study suggests that the warming climate is allowing pests to become established in previously unsuitable regions. For example, warming generally stimulates insect herbivory at higher latitudes as seen in outbreaks of the Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) that has destroyed large areas of pine forest in the US Pacific Northwest. In addition, the rice blast fungus which is present in over 80 countries, and has a dramatic effect both on the agricultural economy and ecosystem health, has now moved to wheat. Considered a new disease, wheat blast is sharply reducing wheat yields in Brazil.

Dr Dan Bebber from the University of Exeter said: “If crop pests continue to march polewards as the Earth warms the combined effects of a growing world population and the increased loss of crops to pests will pose a serious threat to global food security.”

Professor Sarah Gurr from the University of Exeter (previously at the University of Oxford) said: “Renewed efforts are required to monitor the spread of crop pests and to control their movement from region to region if we are to halt the relentless destruction of crops across the world in the face of climate change.”

The study used published observations of the distribution of 612 crop pests collected over the past 50 years. It revealed that the movement of pests north and south towards the poles, and into new previously un-colonised regions, corresponds to increased temperatures during that period.

The study was funded by the HSBC Climate Partnership and Earthwatch.

Date: 1 September 2013

The above article presents a grave picture of the growing pest problem in the agriculture sector. We cannot stop these pests from spreading across the world, but we can protect our crops from their wrath. We need to adopt an environment friendly full proof solution to tackle the pest problem. Termirepel™, a product of C Tech Corporation is an ideal solution to combat the pest problem as it is extremely low toxic in nature, works effectively and efficiently against the pests and have very low environmental implications. It works on the mechanism of repellence and does not harm target or non-target species. In masterbatch form it can be incorporated in agriculture films, mulches, tarpaulins to protect the crops from the vile pests. It can also be incorporated in storage bags to protect the produce. In coating form in can be coated near the storage areas to make them pests free. It is high time that we adopt the use of safe measures to fight the problem of pests.

Combirepel™ liquid concentrate can be mixed in the paints to cover the areas like cracks and crevices of walls and hidden places where the roaches tend to survive.

Combirepel™ lacquer is the topical coating to cover the places like bathrooms, cupboards, steam tunnels, etc.

Hence we provide you with the best effective solution.

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1] https://twitter.com/rodrepel
2] https://twitter.com/termirepel
3] https://twitter.com/combirepel

August 29, 2018

Colorado potato beetles at large!!

Haldane discussed the prevalence of stars and beetles in his book “What is life?” published in the 1940s;

“The Creator would appear as endowed with a passion for stars, on the one hand, and for beetles on the other, for the simple reason that there are nearly 300,000 species of beetle known, and perhaps more, as compared with somewhat less than 9,000 species of birds and a little over 10,000 species of mammals. Beetles are actually more numerous than the species of any other insect order. That kind of thing is characteristic of nature.”

One among the 300,000 species is Colorado potato beetle. An adult beetle is around 10mm long and is orange or yellow with black or brown stripes. The beetle’s main food is potato leaves – a single larva can eat 40 sq cm of leaf per day.

The pretty yellow-and-black-striped Colorado potato beetle is native to wild Solanaceous plants of the semi-arid western United States. Colorado beetles are a serious pest of potatoes.. Both adults and larvae feed on foliage and may skeletonize the crop. . The problem with it began when the beetle broadened its gustatory interests to include cultivated plants in the same family, such as potato, eggplant, and tomato.

Going through the life cycle of the Colorado potato beetle, in late summer, Colorado potato beetles fly to nearby wooded areas and overwinter beneath bark or other cover. In mid-spring, they emerge and walk until they find potatoes or another suitable host plant. After a little light feeding, mated females lay clusters of orange eggs on leaf undersides. The eggs hatch about two weeks later, and the larvae feed for a couple of weeks before entering their pupal stage. In cool weather the entire life cycle can take 45 days or more, but 30 days is more typical. This means that a second generation can emerge at the perfect time to sabotage midseason potatoes.

Colorado potato beetle causes heavy monetary damages. The article named “Last Meal for Colorado potato beetle?” in USA Agriculture department gives the estimate of the economic loss due to the species, “The pest’s larvae devour the leaves of eggplant, tomato and potato plants, causing $150 million annually in crop losses and chemical control expenses”

The problem of Colorado potato beetle is mentioned in yet another article,

Some Growers Say Potato Beetle Becoming Intractable Problem

Anecdotal evidence suggests the Colorado potato beetle has increased its range in Estonia, and some farmers say the situation is dire, especially as the state declassified the colorful bug as a dangerous pest in 2011.

With potato fields flowering, ETV reported on one Saaremaa island field where the beetle had not been seen before, but which is experiencing a major infestation.

Officially, the farmers are advised to manually pluck the larvae and repeat every day, and only resort to pesticides for larger infestations.

There are some areas of Saaremaa where the beetle is well-established and can’t apparently be eradicated, farmers said.

Aadu Grepp, one farmer, said that beetles could be found on every fourth or fifth stalk in his fields.

“You have to spray with some toxin at the right time to get rid of it. In a couple days, it will eat a plant, leaving just a stalk.” He said it had been that bad for two or three years. “The bug hatches from the soil and and there’s nothing to do, the only cure is chemicals. There’s so many and it will return in a week or so.”

Grepp sprays his fields several times a year and said some Leisi growers had stopped planting potatoes.

The areas on Saaremaa affected tend to be on the coasts, as the adult beetle gets an assist from the wind. The biggest potato grower on the island, Guido Lindmäe, who has 22 hectares in the interior, says he yet to see a live beetle.

Opinions vary on whether the mainland is worse off. The Crop Research Institute’s Luule Tartlan says it is worse, while the Agricultural Board says that the potato beetle has ceased to be considered a dangerous pest as of 2011.

The Colorado potato beetle have shifted from its original wild hosts in southwestern North America, it has spread throughout the rest of the continent and has invaded Europe and Asia. Currently its distribution covers approximately 14 million km2 around the world. It has also started appearing in central Asia, western China and Iran. They have started appearing in new regions because of heavy export from the infected area.

Insecticides are currently the main method of beetle control on commercial farms.Colorado potato beetle has a legendary ability to develop resistance to a wide range of pesticides used for its control. Plants in the family Solanaceae, which are natural food sources for this insect, have high concentrations of rather toxic glycoalkaloids in their foliage. These toxins protect them from a wide range of herbivores. However, the Colorado potato beetles evolved an ability to overcome toxic defenses of its hosts. Apparently, this ability also allows them to adapt to a wide range of human-made poisons. Also, high beetle fecundity increases the probability that one of the numerous offspring mutates, just as buying 800 lottery tickets increases probability of getting a winning one compared to buying 8 lottery tickets.

Resistance mechanisms in the Colorado potato beetle are highly diverse even within a relatively narrow geographical area. Furthermore, the beetles show cross-resistance to organophosphates and carbamates, and multiple resistance to organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids.

The immune powers of Colorado potato beetle have forced humans to look for solutions above the hazardous insecticides.

Combirepel™ liquid concentrate can be mixed in the paints to cover the areas like cracks and crevices of walls and hidden places where the roaches tend to survive.

Combirepel™ lacquer is the topical coating to cover the places like bathrooms, cupboards, steam tunnels, etc.

Hence we provide you with the best effective solution.

Follow us on our Twitter pages at:
1] https://twitter.com/rodrepel
2] https://twitter.com/termirepel
3] https://twitter.com/combirepel

August 29, 2018

Prevent apple sawflies from destroying our apples in a non-toxic way!

Apples are easy to grow, productive, and there are shapes and sizes for every garden. They can be susceptible to a range of pests, diseases and disorders, but in most cases action can be taken to prevent or control the problem. It is a melancholy fact that the apple is attacked by a wide range of pests and diseases which at worst can reduce the crop to zero, and damage or even kill the tree. We learned this the hard way. It’s true that you can get some sort of crop by leaving nature to itself, but for consistent quality, and some years to get even one clean apple, you need to understand and outwit the little beasties and bugs. Apple sawfly is one among the many perpetrators of apple damage.

Adult apple sawflies are small insects with blackish brown heads and thorax and brown abdomens. The caterpillar-like larvae initially tunnel beneath the skin of the developing apples, causing a scarring and then further damage.

When apple trees are in flower, the sawfly, Hoplocampa testudinea, lays its eggs in the developing fruit. In June, the larvae tunnel their way under the skin of the fruit and into the core, causing the apples to fall. When they’re ready, they tunnel out of the apples, creating a second hole, and then bury themselves in the soil to pupate. Sometimes the larvae die and don’t make it to the middle of the apple, in which case the apples mature, but they’ll have ribbon scars and are sometimes misshapen.

European Apple sawfly overwinters as a mature larva in a cocoon a few centimeters below the soil surface. The larva pupates in the spring and adults emerge during the pink stage of apples. The female European apple sawfly lays eggs just after the king flower opens. Each female lays about 30 eggs singly in the opening flowers. Eggs are deposited singly at the calyx end of the flower, often at the base of or between the stamens. Sap seeps out of the wound made by the female when laying her eggs. It turns red/brown and can be a good early warning of an attack. A larva hatches after two weeks, newly hatched larva burrow into the apple and feed on tissue just below the skin. As the larva matures, it tunnels deeper into the seed cavity and feeds on one or two seeds. Once under the skin of the fruitlet it tunnels in the surface layer before it burrows into the core. If it does not reach the core it still causes superficial damage which results in the characteristic curved scars. It tunnels out an area of the fruit, filling it with wet brown droppings or frass. Larvae may move on and attack two or three apples, and sometimes more than one grub is found in a single fruit. Often the fruitlets attacked later have masses of frass at the eye where the entry hole was made. After two weeks’ feeding, the larvae leave the fruit to overwinter in the soil. There is one generation per year. Diapause stage may last for up to three years.

First instar larvae feed beneath the fruit skin and create a heavily russeted, winding, ribbon-like scar that spirals out from the calyx end. If larva ceases feeding at this early stage, for whatever reason, this damage will likely be seen on mature fruit at harvest. If this tunneling stops early, tunneling scars are short and indistinguishable from damage caused by the tarnished plant bug. Second instar larvae tunnel into fruit towards the seed cavity. Reddish-brown frass is often seen protruding from an exit hole in fruit (Figure 4-60). Larval feeding into the core of the apple often causes fruit to abort, while sub-surface feeding creates scars visible on the fruit at harvest.

As the larva molts and matures, it moves towards the seed cavity or adjacent fruit. As the larva feeds internally, it enlarges its exit hole with wet, reddish-brown frass on the side of the fruit. The larva moves to other fruit in the cluster to continue feeding. A single larva can damage several apples. Damaged fruit drops during the “June drop” period. Fruitlets that suffered only initial feeding damage by a larva will stay on the tree and develop as fruits. These fruits are misshapen and have a long ribbon-like scar about 4mm wide, often starting at the eye end of the fruit and extending around the circumference.

The European apple sawfly is an introduced pest that was first noted in North America infesting crabapples on Long Island and Vancouver Island during 1939 and 1940, respectively. Since then it has spread into southern New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the Southern Tier of New York State. The pest is especially troublesome in the apple-growing regions of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the Hudson Valley of New York. In the Pacific Northwest, the European apple sawfly appears to be limited to Vancouver Island. The pest is distributed over the entire continent of Europe but is most common in the north. It is found throughout England but is abundant only in certain localities. The larvae feed on all apple and crabapple varieties but show a preference for early or long-blooming varieties with a heavy set of fruit. Sawflies are primitive hymenopterous insects and are related to bees, wasps, and ants. Although two generations a year have been reported in England, only one seems to occur in populations in North America.

The apple sawfly now occurs in almost all the apple orchards. In 1988, it cause near about 14% of damage in the commercial apple orchard in Quebec.

Let’s take a look at the following article which shows how apple sawflies are a nuisance;

Battling European sawfly and powdery mildew

By Dan Woolley | Apr 2011

Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association (NSFGA) members recently received some expert advice on how to deal with two increasingly prevalent problems in Annapolis Valley orchards – European sawfly and powdery mildew

European sawfly
Erika Bent, who operates Agricultural Pest Monitoring, told attendees of the recent NSFGA annual meeting the European sawfly was only an occasional problem in Nova Scotia until 2005 and 2006. By the 2008 harvest, fruit injury level ranged from zero to six per cent. Six per cent is “quite high” for one insect, said Bent.

Sawfly larvae overwinter in the soil, pupate in the spring and emerge as adult flies just before the apple trees bloom to lay their eggs in apple buds and blossoms, Bent explained, adding it takes eight to 10 days for the sawfly’s eggs to hatch. Within four weeks, they are fully grown larvae feeding on the fruitlets.

Growers can reduce sawfly damage by applying insecticide when the larvae are moving from fruitlet to fruitlet, said Bent, who during trapping research in 2007 began capturing adult sawflies about May 22 and spotted their first eggs by June 5. She recommends spraying for sawfly at the time apple blooms are opening.

Control is difficult, Bent admits, as growers cannot spray for the adult sawfly during bloom. Instead, she suggests spraying as close as possible to the bloom to reduce the adult insects, then spraying again after the bloom to stop the larvae from moving between the developing fruit.

Currently, there are two insecticides registered for sawfly in Canada, Bent explained, and one of them – Guthion – is being phased out, leaving Assail as the only control for sawfly.

Quebec and Ontario are introducing a predatory parasite for European sawfly, but it is not a stand-alone control, she said.

The saying goes, “An Apple a day keeps the doctor away”. But now the case has become that the apple themselves need a doctor to keep them safe from vicious pests like apple sawfly. Conventionally people use two methods to fight this problem. One is to physically remove the tainted apples from the orchards so that the other apples do not get infected. Following this method is very tiring and is not at an efficient method to protect the apples from pests. The other method is using toxic and hazardous insecticides. Use of insecticides is harmful as these chemicals generally find their way in the food chain and harm living beings.

Hence to help alleviate or else completely eradicate the infestation we C Tech Corporation provide you with the best effective solution Combirepel™. Combirepel™ is an anti-insect aversive developed on the grounds of green chemistry and technology.

Combirepel™ is available in the form of masterbatch, liquid concentrate, and lacquer. Our Combirepel™ masterbatch can be used in polymer base applications like wires, cables, irrigation pipes, polymeric vessels, and other various applications.

Combirepel™ liquid concentrate can be mixed in the paints to cover the areas like cracks and crevices of walls and hidden places where the roaches tend to survive.

Combirepel™ lacquer is the topical coating to cover the places like bathrooms, cupboards, steam tunnels, etc.

Hence we provide you with the best effective solution.

Follow us on our Twitter pages at:
1] https://twitter.com/rodrepel
2] https://twitter.com/termirepel
3] https://twitter.com/combirepel

August 29, 2018

Wood Borers: Boring their way into our home

There was Bronze Age, Copper Age, Iron Age and many other eras during which the use of one material was prominent. After a particular era the importance of the precious material has toned down. Wood however is the only material which still has its important status since time immemorial. Although the wood has been replaced by metals, polymer, ceramic and other materials in many applications, wooden artifacts are still considered of great value. We still find people who fill their beloved homes with wooden furniture to make it beautiful and more authentic.

Wood is one of the oldest friends of man and is always found in proximity to them in the form of bed, dinner table, chairs, grandfather’s clock, grandpa’s arm chair and many more. Loving and decorating our homes with wooden furniture is fine but protecting them from some of the vile species is of utmost importance. Species which were meant to help environment by giving a hand in biodegradation of wood have actually now become a big menace. Species like termites, carpenter ants, etc. attack healthy wood and have the capability to turn them into dust. Apart from termites and carpenter ants, we also have wood boring beetles that vilify the wood.

About three hundred different species of wood-boring beetles are known to occur in our domestic woodwork indoors, but of these only seven are of frequent occurrence, and it is to the larval or grub stage that we apply the description ‘woodworm’. Woodboring beetles are commonly detected a few years after new construction. There are three groups of wood-boring beetles—powderpost, deathwatch, and false powderpost.

Many different types of wood structures and commodities have been damaged by these wood borers. Timber, planks, musical instruments, and wood carvings are the examples of the commodities damaged.

The wood borers especially powder post beetles do significant damage to wooden commodities, much more than that done by carpenter ants. The damage is done by the larvae that feed and reduce the wood to a fine powder or mass of small pellets and create narrow, meandering tunnels in the wood.

After the adult female emerges, she seeks other open-grained wood and deposits an egg in a pore. After hatching, the larvae eat their way into the wood, completing the cycle in about one year. This process may be repeated on the same piece of wood one quarter to one half inch from the emergence of the hole. Wood finishes: varnish, paint and waxes prevent an infestation. However, the insects already inside the wood will continue to thrive and eventually will emerge through the treated surface.

The lumber supply may have contained wood infected with beetle eggs or larvae, and since beetle life cycles can be one or more years, several years may pass before the presence of beetles becomes noticeable. In many cases, the beetles will be of a type that only attacks living wood, and thus incapable of “infesting” any other pieces of wood, or doing any further damage.

There are several indicators that wood-boring beetles are present. Probably the most common sign of a wood-boring beetle infestation is the presence of holes chewed by the adult beetles upon emergence. Another indicator is a powdery material called frass that beetles often produce while feeding. Frass is plant fragments made by a wood-boring insect; it is usually mixed with excrement. The beetles push the frass from the holes they have made in the infested wood. This frass usually gets piled below the holes or in cracks in structures. The consistency of the frass ranges from very fine to coarse, depending on the species.

Sometimes an infestation is indicated by the presence of wood-boring beetle adults. Adult beetles that emerge in confined structures are attracted to lights or windows and may accumulate at these locations.

Other signs of an infestation include stained wood or a blistering appearance on the wood surface caused by larvae tunneling just below the surface. Less commonly, immature beetles produce audible rasping or ticking sounds while chewing on the wood. These chewing sounds are most often heard during quiet times at night.

To stop this night time chirping steps have to be taken at root level i.e. the lumber from which the wooden commodities are made should be protected from these borers. To curb this problem of the wood borer, a unique solution in contrast to the typical hazardous, non-effective has to be adopted. And there is a solution,

So for this particular problem, we at C Tech Corporation have come up with a viable solution.

At C Tech Corporation, we offer a safe and effective solution to deal with these insects.

Combirepel™ is a non-hazardous product that primarily repels insects from the application. It is a broad spectrum repellent which works against insects thus efficaciously repulse them away from the application. The best feature of this product is that it is environmentally safe and causes no harm to the insect as well as humans and the environment.

The product available in the form of lacquer can be used as a topical application and can be applied to wooden and concrete structures of heritage sites. The liquid concentrate is compatible with most of the surfaces like wood, concrete, fiber, ceramic, metal, polymer etc.

The product available in the form of masterbatch can be incorporated into polymeric applications like wires and cables, pipes, agricultural films, etc. while they are manufactured. The product will prevent the ladybugs from coming near to these applications.

The liquid concentrate can be mixed with paints in a pre-determined ratio and be applied to the interior and exterior areas of heritage sites which can be painted. The liquid concentrate is compatible with all types of paints and solvents.

Using our products, they can repel the termites in an eco-friendly way!

Also, visit our websites:
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http://www.rodrepel.com/
http://www.termirepel.com/
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August 29, 2018

The tree of life in danger!

In Sanskrit, coconut trees are referred to as “Kalpa Vriksha” which means, “The tree that gives all that is necessary for life.” This is no exaggeration because they have been an important source of food, clothing, and shelter since time immemorial. However, our beloved coconut tree is fighting for its own life, and along with it, the lives of thousands of people whose livelihood depends on it. Cocolisap (Aspidiotus destructor rigidus) is a small plant parasite that may cause the demise of our trees, if not given proper cure and care. Based on a report by The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, around 2.1 million coconut trees are now in various stages of infestation by this pest!

Cocolisap feeds on the leaves of young palms and on the surface of fruits that result in the yellowing and wilting of leaves, till the entire coconut tree dies. It prevents photosynthesis, causing premature nut fall and low productivity. The cocolisap attacks the coconut tree by eating the leaves, fruits, and flowers until only the trunk is left. The insect feeds on the sap of the tree and injects toxic enzymes, resulting in discolored leaves and deformed plant tissues that retard the growth of the coconut tree. By this time, the tree is beyond resuscitation, and would be worth only the salvaged coco-lumber. Wind or the transport of infested coconuts can spread cocolisap. Although coconut is the preferred host, cocolisap also attacks fruit trees such as mangosteen, lanzones, etc.

Since 2010, when the first signs of infestation by coconut scale insects or cocolisap appeared, nothing much had been achieved to control the spread of the destructive pest. Recently, the government acknowledged the severity of the problem when it declared a state of calamity in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) zone and Basilan. Approximately one million trees are said to be at risk valued at $ 760 million! The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) reports that annual production of coconut dropped by 3.3 % – from 15.86 million MT in 2012 to 15.34 million MT last year. The local coconut industry has already lost at least $ 4.6 million because of the massive infestation and the losses are mounting as each day passes. By mid-2014, the cocolisap situation reached outbreak proportions affecting more than 60% of the total coconut production in affected areas!

This issue can be better understood by reading the following article,

Cocolisap damage in Basilan reaches P18M

June 16, 2014

By Noel Tarrazona

ZAMBOANGA CITY: Close to 1,000 coconut farmer owners and workers in Isabela City in Basilan have suffered income losses after 107,356 coconut trees and coconut seedlings were reportedly damaged caused by cocolisap, a swarm of coconut scale insects that often attack coconut trees during dry spell period.

Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Provincial Development Manager Efren Carba told The Manila Times that the damage cost of different plantations have already reached an estimate of P 18 million and if left unattended this will certainly have an adverse economic effect not only to the coconut farm stakeholders but also those workers in the oil milling industry.

Carba said his office also received reports that other trees like lansones, banana and papaya were also affected by the swarm of scale pests in Isabela.

PCA earlier requested its research office from Davao to address the growing damage in Basilan and a team introduced bio control measures like the introduction of parasite beetles which can terminate the pests by eating them. The bio control seems to be of little effect since more coconut trees were reportedly damaged.

Carba further recommended the continuous pruning and burning of infested parts of coconut trees to minimize the extent of damage.

In Zamboanga City, particularly in Barangay Sinunuc, a group of farmers reported yellowish coconut trees that were showing symptoms of the presence of scale insect pests. Carba immediately sent a team of specialists to the area but reported a false alarm. The yellowish symptoms of coconut were caused by worm-insects which are more manageable and less destructive.

Carba further appealed to the Quarantine Office of the Department of Agriculture in Zamboanga to quarantine all coco products coming from Basilan and these include coco seedling and coconut shells.

“We should be watchful and vigilant so these pests will not infest our coconut trees here in Zamboanga,” Carba added.

The PCA reported that 18 villages have already confirmed the presence of these scale pests in Isabela City in Basilan. Isabela has 45 barangays and 33 of these barangays are with huge coconut plantations.

The Philippines has about 3.5 million coconut farmers and 26% of the total agricultural land is devoted to coconut farming alone! This highlights the severity of the situation and the need to find a solution for the problem before this pest threatens to wipe out our coconut trees. Until now, quick and toxic methods had been used to combat cocolisap infestation. However, the conventional method that includes spraying and injecting the coconut trunk with neonicotinoids, have proven to be lethal to the environment and the people. Thus, we are in dire need of a solution that helps protect the coconut trees from damage, while at the same time does not harm the environment in any way.

So for this particular problem, we at C Tech Corporation have come up with a viable solution.

At C Tech Corporation, we offer a safe and effective solution to deal with these insects.

Using our products, they can repel the termites in an eco-friendly way!

Also, visit our websites:
http://www.ctechcorporation.com/
http://www.rodrepel.com/
http://www.termirepel.com/
http://www.combirepel.com/

Follow our Facebook pages at:
1] https://www.facebook.com/Combirepel-411710912249274/
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