Sustainable management of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis, with sex pheromone

• Grant number: 21/13350-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Agreement: Koppert Brasil
• Principal Investigator: José Maurício Simões Bento
• Grantee: Maycon Roberto da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ)
• Associated research grant: 18/02317-5 - Center for Excellence in Biological Control, AP.PCPE

Abstract

Although Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, with more than 8 million hectares planted, and the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis, is considered its main pest, the sex pheromone of this insect has not yet been fully elucidated. For this reason, there is no inexpensive and efficient sampling system for large sugarcane areas, which requires labor and time-consuming sampling processes (e.g. for opening and counting caterpillars inside the stems (fixed points per hectare or by the man-hour system). In this sense, to seek a more rational management strategy for this crop pest and to support the expansion of its biological control, which occupies less than half of the planted area, this project aims to identify the sexual pheromone of D. saccharalis and make available a commercial formulation for its use in traps (AU)