USE OF PREDATORY MITES FOR PEST MANAGEMENT IN APPLE ORCHARDS

Abstract

In Kazakhstan, protection of apple orchards against tetranychid and fruit mites is of considerable agricultural importance because intensive pesticide use contributes to resistant phytophagous populations, reduces beneficial acarofauna, and disturbs the ecological balance of orchard agrocenoses. The aim of this study was to evaluate chemical and biological approaches to spider mite control on apple trees and to substantiate the inclusion of predatory phytoseiid mites in ecologized orchard protection systems in Kazakhstan. The paper summarizes literature and experimental data on acaricides and entomoacariphages, including field trials from Central Asia and the experience of Amblyseius andersoni introduction in apple orchards of the Almaty region. The analysis showed that chemical treatments provide high initial biological effectiveness, but their protective effect decreases by 14-21 days after application. The most stable effect against phytophagous mites was obtained with A. andersoni: at a predator: prey ratio of 1:2, the number of spider mites decreased to zero by day 14. Safe release of Phytoseiulus persimilis after Biowert and Metarhizium robertsii treatments is possible after 3 days, whereas after Fitoverm and BTB it should be delayed for at least 5 days. The scientific novelty of the work is the systematization of data on predatory mites in Central Asian orchard agrocenoses and the substantiation of A. andersoni as a promising element of integrated apple protection in southeastern Kazakhstan.