09/12/06 A new control for tubermoth?

The potato tuber moth has been a problem for growers in Washington's Columbia Basin and near Hermiston in eastern Oregon. One tuber moth was discovered in a trap near Parma last year and that's why the Idaho State Department of Agriculture put out dozens of traps across southern Idaho this year. Unlike Oregon and Washington ISDA's Ben Simko says no more tuber moths have been found in Idaho. SIMKO "We're talking about a huge magnitude difference between what we're seeing here and what they dealt with." . In July USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists in Washington State began testing an insect pathogen call granulovirus to control the moth's caterpillar stage, which feeds on both the potato plant and its tubers. ARS entomologist Lawrence Lacey says except for a few other potato tuber moth relatives this pathogen doesn't infect other insects, humans or other mammals. Lacey and his colleagues are studying ways to biologically produce and formulate the granulovirus as a biopesticide product that potato growers could spray on their crops before harvest. Another potential use is on stored potatoes. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott