Efficacy of long-lasting insecticide-incorporated netting in controlling preharvest and postharvest pest insects: a meta-analysis study.

Ranabhat, Sabita; Altunç, Yunus Emre; Athanassiou, Christos G.; Kun Yan Zhu; Morrison III, William R.

Long-lasting insecticide-incorporated netting (LLIN) is a newer tactic to intercept insect movement and reduce the damage caused by insect species in agriculture. LLIN can be integrated with other diverse management tactics in preand postharvest settings, but no study has yet looked at the combined patterns across all undertaken studies to determine efficacy. Thus, we have carried out a meta-analysis on the direct and sublethal efficacy of LLIN, using literature published between 1990-2024 in agriculture. Additional criteria for inclusion included that the netting must contain an active ingredient and a proper control. This left us with a total of 44 peer-reviewed publications with 285 data points on the efficacy of LLIN in agriculture. LLIN exposure was 8.6-fold and 257-fold more effective in causing direct mortality and sublethal effects in the laboratory, respectively, compared to the field. However, broad generalization is limited because of the low sample size for field studies. Direct mortality was equally observed after exposure in preharvest and postharvest systems, but sublethal effects were 4.9-fold greater in postharvest environments. Deltamethrin and alpha-cypermethrin-incorporated netting inflict similar direct mortality across taxa in both pre- and postharvest settings. LLIN exposure has shown direct efficacy against 19 out of 23 tested species and has induced sublethal effects in 10 out of 16 tested species. Overall, our study synthesizes the current knowledge on a promising new technology for agriculture, we highlight knowledge gaps, including a lack of field-relevant data, and finally suggest areas for further research in this field considering the entire production chain.

TECHNOLOGICAL innovations; PEST control; INSECT locomotion; FIELD research; DELTAMETHRIN

Entomologia Generalis, 2024, Vol 44, Issue 6, p1441

0171-8177

Academic Journal

10.1127/entomologia/2024/2743