generation of C. suppressalis is done at the rate of 100 Tricocards per hectare at the
second half of April in field or nursery based on the peak of flight. For the second
generation, two releases are performed; One at the peak of pupation or as soon as the
first eggs or female oviposition was recorded and the second when C. suppressalis
catches maximize (7–10d after the first release and before dough stage). When the
second and third generations overlap, release is done at the peak flights of the second
generation or when the curve begins to rise at the third generation (Anonymous
2006). Release areas of corn fields have been shown in Fig. 6.9.
Above Figs. (6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9) show that the wide spread use of
Trichogramma spp. in Iran was begun 6–17 years ago depending on crop. The
release area in some products such as tomato and corn have been exponentially
increasing while in other crops such as rice remained constant following a sudden
decline or even in some others like apple have had decreasing trend. Total release
area does not exceed 0.8% of the grown lands, which distributed mainly in three
Northern provinces of Iran (Attaran and Dadpour-Moghanlou 2011). This suggests a
potential market for the future.
6.8 Comparison Between Iran and the World Status
of Trichogramma Research and Application
Study on flight speed of Trichogramma spp. showed that the Iranian populations are
weaker flyers than other populations. This may be an intrinsic difference or otherwise arises by poor rearing methods (Attaran 2009; Moosavian et al. 2010). Despite
low price of Trichogramma production in Iran (260,000 IRR % 2 US $ per gram) the
release of these wasps is still very limited. Some of the most important restrictions
are lack of investments, lack of workforce, lack of organization for on-time access to
required numbers of wasps, lack of governmental support, insurance, low acceptability among farmers due to inadequate control and so on.
Trichogramma application initially received higher attention by farmers but
gradually a large number of farmers refused it and believed that biological control
is not efficient enough (Attaran and Dadpour-Moghanlou 2011). Numerous reasons
caused it to happen. One main challenge in Trichogramma use has been extra
reliance on one species and neglecting local populations. Ease of access caused
T. brassicae released in many situations and replaced to natural fauna. This is while
T. brassicae is not suitable to control carob moth (Table 6.2). One possible solution
to overcome this problem is construction of a Trichogramma bank of natural source.
This bank may assist to conserve natural diversity and provide suitable founders for
augmentative programs adapted to local conditions. The other fault in
Trichogramma production is lack of data related to efficacy evaluation of the
released wasps. This negates having a true insight about the results of our measurements. This may cause to expend unnecessary effort and cost.
218
S. Iranipour and N. Vaez
second half of April in field or nursery based on the peak of flight. For the second
generation, two releases are performed; One at the peak of pupation or as soon as the
first eggs or female oviposition was recorded and the second when C. suppressalis
catches maximize (7–10d after the first release and before dough stage). When the
second and third generations overlap, release is done at the peak flights of the second
generation or when the curve begins to rise at the third generation (Anonymous
2006). Release areas of corn fields have been shown in Fig. 6.9.
Above Figs. (6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9) show that the wide spread use of
Trichogramma spp. in Iran was begun 6–17 years ago depending on crop. The
release area in some products such as tomato and corn have been exponentially
increasing while in other crops such as rice remained constant following a sudden
decline or even in some others like apple have had decreasing trend. Total release
area does not exceed 0.8% of the grown lands, which distributed mainly in three
Northern provinces of Iran (Attaran and Dadpour-Moghanlou 2011). This suggests a
potential market for the future.
6.8 Comparison Between Iran and the World Status
of Trichogramma Research and Application
Study on flight speed of Trichogramma spp. showed that the Iranian populations are
weaker flyers than other populations. This may be an intrinsic difference or otherwise arises by poor rearing methods (Attaran 2009; Moosavian et al. 2010). Despite
low price of Trichogramma production in Iran (260,000 IRR % 2 US $ per gram) the
release of these wasps is still very limited. Some of the most important restrictions
are lack of investments, lack of workforce, lack of organization for on-time access to
required numbers of wasps, lack of governmental support, insurance, low acceptability among farmers due to inadequate control and so on.
Trichogramma application initially received higher attention by farmers but
gradually a large number of farmers refused it and believed that biological control
is not efficient enough (Attaran and Dadpour-Moghanlou 2011). Numerous reasons
caused it to happen. One main challenge in Trichogramma use has been extra
reliance on one species and neglecting local populations. Ease of access caused
T. brassicae released in many situations and replaced to natural fauna. This is while
T. brassicae is not suitable to control carob moth (Table 6.2). One possible solution
to overcome this problem is construction of a Trichogramma bank of natural source.
This bank may assist to conserve natural diversity and provide suitable founders for
augmentative programs adapted to local conditions. The other fault in
Trichogramma production is lack of data related to efficacy evaluation of the
released wasps. This negates having a true insight about the results of our measurements. This may cause to expend unnecessary effort and cost.
218
S. Iranipour and N. Vaez