A group of MSU researchers is helping fruit farmers across the state increase their crop yield and cut costs with the help of sex chemicals from female moths.
Entomology research technician Peter McGhee is working with farmers and researchers to further a study that shows using female codling moth pheromones instead of insecticide is a cheaper and more effective way to protect crops from moth offspring.
Pheromone dispensers are tied into fruit trees to confuse male moths, McGhee said. The pheromone dispensers that attract the males are more powerful than the actual female moth pheromone, and once the male moths find the dispensers, it renders them incapable of responding to the pheromone of female moths. When the female moths don’t become fertilized, they don’t lay eggs creating larvae in apples, McGhee said.
Between 35 and 40 percent of apple farmers in Michigan use the pheromone alternative, McGhee said, and after four years of research, he said farmers are increasing their profits.
“Our estimates … indicate that using pheromones while reducing insecticide applications and improving fruit quality at harvest by only 1 percent can increase profits for the grower by $228-$294 per acre,” McGhee said.
Five years ago, Joe Klein, a Sparta, Mich., apple farmer, wanted to cut down on the amount of insecticide he used in his apple orchard, so he started using the pheromone method. Klein said the switch saved him money and manpower.
“I just wanted to cut down insecticide cost and keep from having to go into the orchard with the cost of fuel and manpower,” Klein said. “The effectiveness has been outstanding.”
Although the pheromone application costs farmers anywhere from $100 to $120 per acre compared to the $40 per acre insecticides cost, McGhee said the benefits outweigh the costs since farmers use fewer applications.
“They are finding they can reduce the number of insecticides and save money by doing that,” McGhee said.
Entomology professor Larry Gut said his team will continue its research to improve the pheromone application.
“I think we’re going to be relying more on technology like this in the future,” Gut said. “We have to make it more cost-effective and easy to use.”
Since the current pheromone dispenser only desensitizes the male codling moth for one night, Gut said his team will look into a new approach he called “attract and remove.”
“We want to get rid of them because the technique works better,” Gut said. “We want to remove them by catching them and removing them.”
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