Development of moths in tomato crop and methods of moth control

Abstract

Heliothis armigera (cotton moth or cocoon worm) is considered one of the worst pests of tomatoes in Uzbekistan, in addition to cotton. All stages of the pest can develop in this crop. The pest lays its eggs individually on the body, flowers and blooms of the plant. Worms hatched from the eggs gnaw the plant body, flowers and fruits. Each worm can damage 10-12 tomatoes per plant. Damaged crops wither, and large ones rot. In some cases (mostly in the Yusupov variety), infected large fruits do not rot, but may form a scar, but the quality and appearance of the product will be lost. Not all varieties are equally affected by the cocoon worm: the Yusupov variety is the strongest, and the Volgograd 5/95 and Talalikhin varieties are less affected. But there is no type of tomato that is not damaged at all, and in some years the yield can decrease up to 50%. In this article, the species composition, distribution area, bioecology, development and damage caused by moths in the tomato plant are studied, and the level of harmfulness is studied. In this case, the length and weight of moths at different ages of moths were determined in laboratory conditions. When the first young worms of the moth were placed in the tomato plant, compared to the control option, it was found that the tomato yield decreased by 73.3% and the total yield decreased by 2.15 kg. During the fruiting period, the option affected by cocoon worm showed a 53.3% decrease in fruits compared to the control, and a loss of 1,400 kg of productivity per plant was observed as a result of the experiments.