Helicoverpa armigera is found in Minas Gerais, Brazil

The presence of the caterpillar Helicoverpa armigera was detected over soybean crops in the cities of Paracatu and Unaí in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. “In partnership with Ihara, we have set five traps at strategic points of the soybean crops. Besides the adults, we also found the Helicoverpa itself in the initial chrysolite of the plant,” tells Frederico Quirino, a consultant of Plan Agricultural Projects and Technical Assistance Ltd.

According to the expert, the resurgence of the plague was pushed by the climate pressure with the intensification of the El Niño phenomenon. According to him, there are short volumes of rain in the past weeks and the heat does not cease.

Quirino explains that the monitoring project and the assertive management, proposed by Ihara to Brazilian producers, aims to minimize the impact of Helicoverpa armigera at the crop results. “If everybody tries to avoid the larvae hatch, the next generation will be smaller and will not cause loss for farmers,” defends.

The early identification of the infestation provides the opportunity to start the immediate control, tells the manager of Buriti farm (Unaí), Adalberto Luiz Gatto: “When we found the insects, we begen to do the application of the virus (Gemstar, distributed in Brazil by Ihara) and it worked. On Monday, we will do a new analysis”.

The active ingredient of Gemstar is a natural nucleopolyhedrosis virus that infects the larvae. The mechanism action is simple: the larvae that attack a sprayed crop with Gemstar are infected by ingestion of virus particles deposited over the plant. The larvae stops eating, while the virus multiplies rapidly within it, destroying its internal organs. When Helicoverpa armigera is disintegrated, it releases billions of new viral particles that end up being ingested by other caterpillars (of the same generation or not) in the same area.

Early this week, the region will begin the planting of kidney beans – where it will also install monitoring traps. “The planting area will be a lot smaller this year due to the dry weather. Therefore, we believe that this control action will help much. Through it, we will anticipate the application of Ihara and the chance of the plague to develop will be smaller,” affirms Gatto.

According to Carlos Marcelo, a researcher at IMA/MT, as the first moths are detected at the traps, it is needed to inspect the field to verify the presence of eggs. If eggs are found, the application of products should be started to guarantee a greater control of the early stages of the caterpillars with effectiveness and without causing economic loss to farmers.