SURVEY ON STRATEGIES FOR PEST CONTROL IN LUCERNE SEED CROPS IN CENTER-WEST OF FRANCE

J. Hacquet

F.N.A.M.S., Centre INRA, 86600 Lusignan, France.

The evolution of the different pest species in Center-West of France is well known thanks to a warning network which has been working since 1984. This network allows to guide pest control and provides informations about insecticide treatments which have been carried out since 1991. The main results of this survey are the            following  ones: The low average number of treatments, 2.3, shows the generalization of a reasoned pest control; practices and treatments rates vary widely according to year and area; but all strategies include 1 or 2 treatments during budding (against the flower gall midge) and other treatments according to different pests. Almost half of the pesticides applications remain during flowering, but most of used insecticides are selective for pollinators, such as lambda-cyhalothrin and  deltamethrin.

Keywords: lucerne; seed production; pest control; survey; reasoned treatment