Tobacco leaf-pest control demonstration trials, 1960-1962

Abstract

During 1960-1962 four field control demonstration trials were conducted against tobacco leaf pests in North Queensland. These showed that a properly timed schedule of DDT and endrin (or dieldrin) sprays gave satisfactory control of all pests at the levels of infestation encountered in the trials.
The serious pests involved were leaf-miner, Phthorimaea operculella (Zell.), budworms, Heliothis punctigera Wallengr. and H. armigera (Huhn.), and looper, Plusia argentifera Goen.
Recommended spray control schedules were shown to increase the yield and value of cured leaf up to nearly four times that from unsprayed control plots, demonstrating the vital importance of pest control in tobacco production in North Queensland.
Effective control was obtained at a minimum cost varying according to the programme used from £14 to £23 per acre covering insecticides and application costs. These costs are low in relation to the value of the crop.