I semiochimici nella difesa integrata del melo in Trentino-Alto Adige

With its 28,000 hectares, Trentino - South Tyrol region is the main apple-producing area in Italy and one of the most important apple-growing district in Europe. Codling moth (Cydia pomonella) is the key pest of apple orchards and economic losses associated with its infestation could be significant if not adequately controlled. Since the early Nineties area-wide applications of pheromone mating disruption (MD) has been implemented in the region for the control of codling moth. At present, after 25 years of constant increase of the treated surface, mating disruption is applied on about 24,000 ha i.e. 85% of the total apple growing area. For a complete control of the pest MD needs to be integrated with a post-blossom insecticide (methoxyfenozide or chlorantraniliprole), generally applied when the eggs of the first generation start hatching. While the main target is still codling moth, the multi-species dispensers are sometime applied to control leafrollers or oriental fruit moth. Once largely used, handapplied reservoir dispensers are nowadays gradually replaced by aerosol technology that has shown comparable efficacy and reduced application costs. Additional insecticide applications potentially required to control new invasive alien species like Halyomorpha halys, the northward expansion of Ceratitis capitata, or the new outbreaks of apple proliferation disease vectored by Cacopsylla picta and Cacopsylla melanoneura can jeopardize the economic sustainability of MD application and foster research institutions and advisory services to find alternative control techniques