Agriculture
Pheromone Pest Control Solutions
Using our pheromones in agriculture equips growers with a radically different and highly sustainable form of insect control, helping optimize crop yield by disrupting insects' mating patterns; and at the same time, helping preserve biodiversity and ecosystem balance.
Overview: Pheromones
At BASF, we are always asking “Is there a more sustainable way to provide insect control?” With damaging Lepidoptera (moth) species, the answer is to use the insect’s own natural pheromones against them. With a non-toxic target mode of action, pheromones are a unique way of approaching insect control via mating disruption. Pheromones provide growers with a highly-sustainable approach to protect pome fruit, grapes and stone fruits. Instead of interfering with the pest’s biochemistry, pheromones work by disrupting the pest’s ability to mate, limiting larvae from inhabiting and destroying a crop.
Key Features and Benefits of Pheromones
Features
- Unique activity
- Zero residue product
- Excellent toxicological and environmental profile
- Very low use rates
Benefits
- Well-suited for integrated pest management (IPM) and insecticide resistance management programs
- Ideal for use in organic fruit production
- Species specific action works on the pests you need to control
- No significant acute toxicity to mammals
- Safe to use around beneficial insects and non-target species
- Developing resistance is unlikely as it is natural to the insect’s mating process
Mode of Action
Pheromones work differently than other insecticides. Instead of disrupting the pest’s biochemistry, pheromones work by disrupting the natural mating cycle of pests. Sex pheromones are chemicals released by female insects into the air to attract male insects during mating season. BASF uses a certain group of pheromones called straight-chain lepidopteran pheromones, which are identical to those produced naturally by female insects. These artificial pheromones are released in very small quantities into a field or orchard and produce a “cloud” of pheromones. This cloud disorients the male insect enough that he cannot find the female insect’s trail of pheromones to mate and reproduce. As a result, pest infestations can be prevented or significantly reduced.
Because these straight-chain lepidopteran pheromones are identical to those naturally produced, it is highly unlikely that insect resistance will develop.
