Development of a Quarantine Postharvest Treatment against Guatemalan Potato Moth (Tecia solanivora Povolny)

Abstract

Tecia solanivora is a quarantine organism regarded as one of the insect pests causing major economic losses during potato cultivation and storage in Central America. The potatoes trade between countries, the interest in introducing new potato varieties, the great adaptability of the insect to different agro-ecological conditions, and the globalization world are serious risks in other potato growing countries. This pest was first recorded in Europe in the Canary Islands, Spain, in 1999, later in Galicia (2015) and then in Asturias (2016). Unfortunately, there are no effective chemical treatments for field control, and their integrated management has variable efficacy. Therefore, the implementation of a postharvest treatment to eradicate the insect, at any stage, during storage and marketing of potato becomes essential to achieve a product free of the insect that prevents its dissemination while maintaining the quality during its commercialization. This article presents the development of a new postharvest treatment of potatoes to eliminate all developmental stages of the Guatemalan moth by the application of a control atmosphere enriched in carbon dioxide. Infested potatoes were exposed to different control atmospheres combination (10, 20, 30, 40, or 50% CO2, 20% O2, and rest of N2). These treatments were applied for 4, 7, and 10 days at 18 ± 2 °C. The 10 days duration treatment (30 ± 2% CO2, 20 ± 2% O2 and 50 ± 2% N2) killed the insect in the semi and commercial trials performed without affecting potatoes quality and postharvest life, giving the possibility of its consideration as a quarantine postharvest treatment against T. solanivora.

Efficacy of a postharvest treatment aiming at eradication of all developmental stages of Tecia solanivora in ware potatoes

“…The Panel evaluated limitations of the experimental setup and the statistical methodology presented in the scientific publication (Lobo et al., 2021 ) and performed a re‐evaluation of the data as follows:…”

“…The submitted scientific publication (Lobo et al., 2021 ) proposes a postharvest treatment of potatoes to eliminate all developmental stages of the T. solanivora by the application of a controlled atmosphere enriched in carbon dioxide. In the publication four experiments with T. solanivora ‐infested potato tubers are described.…”

“…The Panel decided to evaluate the experimental setup (Sections 2.5 and 2.6 of Lobo et al., 2021 ) and results (presented in Tables 4 and 5 of Lobo et al., 2021 ) of the post‐harvest treatment in the (semi)‐commercial trials.…”

“…The development of the larval stages under the experimental conditions was not investigated (Lobo et al., 2021 ) and is thus unknown but estimated by the Panel to be about 30 days to complete the four larval stages.…”

Evaluation of the Egg Predator Blattisocius tarsalis (Mesostigmata: Blattisociidae) for the Biological Control of the Potato Tuber Moth Tecia solanivora under Storage Conditions

“…Moreover, the Guatemalan tuber moth has led to a reduction in cultivated area and an increase in production costs. If this pest is not controlled, it could cause a collapse in the local potato production, and many local potato varieties could be lost [9,10]. In the Iberian Peninsula, the management of the Guatemalan tuber moth is essential to prevent its spread through the rest of the European continent.…”