Effective Management Practices Of Tomato Leafminer- Tuta Absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae): A Review

Tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta) is an economically and physiologically important oligophagous pest (a pest which feeds on plants of a particular group) of solanaceous crops, particularly tomato. The lifecycle of tomato leafminers possesses complete metamorphosis, which means that all four phases are present in its lifetime. The larval stage, which feeds by mining the mesophyll of tomato leaves and fruits, is the most destructive of the four phases. The insect population is rapidly increasing, obliterating and consuming crop fields all over the world. Their expansion has reduced the quantity of high-quality tomato produce, resulting in an economic loss. To counteract this trend, the pest population must be controlled before it reaches crisis proportions. Several studies and experiments have been undertaken, and several management approaches have been applied to control T. absoluta, but they have gradually proved ineffectual due to their feeding and damage behaviour, reproductive potential, and resistance development to applied treatments. They have been subjected to a variety of chemical control approaches. But slowly, they became immune to the majority of contact insecticides and pesticides used against them. As a result, the emerging strategy for now is the integration of all management methods, including physical, biological, biochemical, cultural, genetic, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), in order to discourage the development of resistance in them and obliterate their populations both inside greenhouses and open fields, which could be possible with the government’s and concerned authorities’ ongoing support.