Background:
Insect pests cause enormous losses to crops. Sole reliance on the application of chemical pesticides has led to several side effects like the resurgence of pests, resistance to pesticides and outbreak of secondary pests coupled with problems of environmental pollution. With increasing hazards due to chemical pesticides, the only answer to mitigate these ill-effects is the use of safe alternatives. With the increased awareness of integrated pest management concept among the farmers, there is increasing emphasis on the utilization of bio-control agents (parasitoids, predators) and conservation of insects’ fauna (non-targeted insects, pollinators etc.). The use of mechanical tools and techniques is one the most effective, environmentally sound and costeffective pest management approach to control insect pests. The present invention relates to an Insect light trap having insect sorting filters. It can be used for sampling and mass trapping of insects in the crop fields. Light traps are the most widely used traps for the monitoring and trapping of agricultural insect pests. The light stimulus lures the flying insects particularly which are responding to the light source such as moths, flies, beetles etc. towards it and these insects fall down in the funnel kept below it and get collected into the insect collecting apparatus kept below it. The porous insect collecting apparatus provides automatic sieving and grading of insects into different categories, allowing the separation of micro-size insects, such as parasitoids, nontargeting insects from large-sized insects such as moths, crickets, flies etc. and can be easily sorted out in the insect collecting apparatus and these can be released back safely in the crop system. The harmful insects can be removed from the light trap unit and can be killed. Mass trapping of adults of both sexes of insect pests by light trap will help in minimizing their infestation in the field to significant level. It will prove an important tool of eco-friendly integrated pest management strategy.:
Technology Details:
The main aim of this study was to safeguard the non-targeting and beneficial insect fauna from mortality while using the insect light trap technology in different crops. Regulation of pore sizes in the insect filter chamber of the trap will enhance its adoptability. In the long term, it will reduce the load of synthetic chemical pesticides thereby a step to encourage the adoption of traditional knowledge as an essential and alternate component of pest management for various agroecosystems. It will help in insect pests monitoring, taxonomic and mass trapping purposes.