Sustainable horticultural practices address the global issues of food security, pest and disease management, soil health, water pollution, depletion of biodiversity, etc. with environment–friendly approaches. Increasingly, the adoption of such strategies is benefitting agricultural production including that in orchards. Even though several Integrated Pest Management (IPM), disease, and weed management strategies have been in use for the control of pests, diseases, and weeds in apple orchards, they are still not the most favored methods of control. There are various economic and acceptance concerns regarding their use, particularly in developing nations. A more sustainable system for apple orchards management, thus, should be adopted.
Here, we review various management methodologies, including the sustainable biocontrol methods, employed in the apple orchards. Reviewing these methods, we draw attention towards integrating sustainable IPM methodologies with biocontrol strategies like the use of pest-resistant cultivars, employing natural parasites and enemies of apple pests, use of agro-based pesticides, integration of technological advances that can provide real-time data to farmers and orchard scouting leading to the development of sustainable management of apple orchards. Such systems will not only reduce dependence on chemical control methods but will also minimize ecotoxicity. We also draw parallels from the biocontrol methods adopted in sustainable agri-production in other fruit orchards to suggest strategies that can be employed for sustainable apple production.
In present study effect of sucrose, honey odour and its different fractions on orientation and behaviour of Cotesia plutellae (K) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a larval endoparasitoid of Plutella xylostella (L) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), was studied under laboratory conditions. Orientation responses of naïve, unmated and unfed adults of C. plutellae were tested in a T-shaped tunnel. Female wasps showed attraction, antennation and mouth parts extension to honey at a distance in response to its odour. Attraction of females to honey was innate because the wasps derived from sucrose-fed parents showed same level of attraction to honey as those derived from honey-fed parents. Hexane fraction of hexane-extracted honey attracted females, but did not elicit antennation and mouthparts extension. Aqueous fraction of hexane-extracted honey elicited latter two responses but no attraction. Male wasps showed antennation and mouthparts extension but no responses to honey odour. A comparison of Preference Indices of the wasps for different fractions showed that their attraction to the hexane fraction and antennation/mouthparts extension to the aqueous fraction were significantly less than those to the un-extracted honey. The present study suggests that it may be helpful in biological control with C. plutellae to use honey odour in the background of an appropriate, nutritionally efficient, food like sucrose or a formulation of various nutrients which may itself be unattractive to the parasitoids.
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