Biological and Chemical Controls for Moluscan Pest

This group of critical pests belongs to the phylum Mollusca, a bunch including the octopus and whelk as well as the slug’s close relatives, the particular snails, which cause a number of damage to plants within greenhouses and private home gardens

Biological control

The parasitic rhabditid nematode, Phasmarhabditis hermaphodita (Schneider) is considered by growers and researcher to offer the best alternative to chemical control (Ester and Geleen, 1996);Glen et al, 1996). Effective gastropod control with the nematode has been shown however to be highly dependent on optimal timing of application in relation to crop development. Further , placement of application of the nematodes is important. The comment relating to timing and placement of molluscicides apply similarly here

In greenhouses. Organic grower of asparagus and flower, such as roses, keep quail (cortunix cortunic Linn; and small chicken (Gallus gallus (Linn) to protect crops from gastropods damage, but the are no objective data on efficacy of these approach.

Chemical Control:

Private home gardeners use many non-chemical kinds of control, ranging from lures of grapefruit templates and stale draught beer to soot scattered around larger plant life. A nematode (Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita) is getting used to limit slug quantities. The most effective methods open to both amateur along with professional horticulturists at the moment are 3 chemicals, aluminium sulphate (a great irritant), metaldehyde (which dehydrates your slug) and methiocarb (which provides a stomach poison). The harmful chemicals are most commonly used while small-coloured pellets (which include food attractants for example bran and sugars), but metaldehyde may also be used as a drench. Some farmers estimate the slug inhabitants using small tons of pellets covered with a ceramic tile or flat gemstone (to prevent bird accumulation) before deciding on common control. Use of metaldehyde and also methiocarb in gardens recently been claimed like a major contribution for the decline of the yeast infection numbers.

Sugar-water to Attract Natural Enemies Maize Pest in Honduras Farmers

Recently in Honduras, a validations study was conducted to determine if sugars solution applied to maize(Zea mays L) would attract natural enemies of key pest Spodoptera frugiperda Smith( Cans an O Neil, 1998). Using a sugar as a conservation techniques has been reported in a number a scientific journals and has been tried in the USA in Lucerne and some vegetable system. However the idea for using sugar solutions in Honduran maize did not arise from a scientific journal, but rather from a farmer who had invented a new (to her) technology of pest control. The pathway from farmers invention to testing by universities scientist, to extension, to other farmes was predicated on a simple . yet profound idea. That idea, that framers, like rest of us, experiment with familiar to gain insight on what they don’t know wsa used as the basis for IPM program in Honduras. In Brief, field study by crop protection specialist and anthropologist, JW Bentley , at Zamorano College in Hondureas identified critical gaps in farmer understanding and use of IPM in subsistence crops (maize and beans). A key finding was that formers did not appreciate the role of natural enemies(primarily ants, social wasp and parasitism) and thus were not manipulation their practices to conserve natural enemies. A workshop was develop and offered to framers who participated in a number of role playing exercises(on pest and natural enemy biology) , field studies (seeing social wasps attacking pests) and discussions (classroom presentations were minimized) our farmer attended one of these work shops, which resulted in her inventions of using sugar –water to attract natural enemies(other workshop farmers also invented this and other control technology). It is important to note that farmers were taught that ant eat pest and not:use sugar water to attract ant to control pest.Our inventive farmer took what she know, that ants like sugars(she worned a small store whre ants were pests of sweet products she sold) ants added it to what she learned, that ants are predators, she the began to experiment with using sugar water in he milpa(small production plot), which lead ti the validation work cited above. The repeated inventions of this technology by workshop participant and the validation study by Canas and Oneil (1998) led to the extension of this technology to thousand of framers in Honduras. Farmer innovation can be powerful mechanism in conservation biological control and programs that directly involve farmers in the development and testings of practices should increase the adoption and spread of this technology(Stoll, 2000).