July 4, 2023 | Agri Harvest | Source (in Chinese)
Taiwan's Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station is using innovative lighting techniques to protect peaches, guavas, and spring onions from pests. They have developed "rotating moth-repelling lights" and "suction-type insect-catching lights" based on the natural inclination of crop pests to be either repelled or attracted to light. These technologies have reduced peach damage rates by 20%, and they are ten times more effective at attracting sweet potato weevils than pheromone attractants.
Taoyuan is a major peach-producing region in Taiwan, and peaches are often affected by pests like the fruit-piercing moth. These moths lay their eggs in wooded areas, and adult moths fly into fields to damage fruit, making pesticide control challenging. To combat this, the station developed "rotating moth-repelling lights" that use special yellow light sources to repel moths effectively, reducing peach damage from 25.1% to 5.2%.
The station has also introduced the "suction-type insect-catching light" to capture pests in vegetables, rice, and flower cultivation areas. These lights use specific wavelength light sources to attract pests and then trap them in a net with an integrated fan, preventing their escape. These innovations demonstrate that physical pest control can reduce the reliance on chemical pesticides, offering farmers more sustainable and cost-effective pest management solutions.