Optimal strategy in controlling non-vector pest insect using green insecticide and mating disruption with cost-effectiveness analysis

Abstract

Abstract Pest insect is one of the major pests that cause damage and loss in agriculture around the world. This threat also comes with other complex problems such as environmental hazards by the indiscriminate pesticide and the rapid development of insects due to the environmental change. Therefore, more environmentally friendly and sustainable control methods need to be implemented. This paper discusses a generic model to describe plant-insect interaction and focuses on the interaction between non-vector pest insect and plant. The model consists of a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations representing insect-plant predator-prey interaction with the addition of two controls, namely green insecticide and mating disruption. An optimal control approach was exploited to solve the control problem and find a set of control strategies that regulate the system optimally. The simulations were conducted for three strategies and four scenarios describing possibilities in the real-world application. Our results suggest that all strategies managed to prevent agriculture loss. A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted to examine the cost and benefit of applying each strategy.