Semi-field evaluation of VOC dispensers for the biocontrol of Drosophila suzukii in strawberry

In Europe, Drosophila suzukii has been detected in Italy and Spain in 2009 and in France in 2010. Economic costs to the grower from D. suzukii include the increased cost of production (increased labor and materials for chemical inputs, monitoring and other management tools) and crop loss. An effective response to the invasion of D. suzukii requires to test other mean of control. In our case, we tried the biocontrol release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) capable of disrupting the behavior of the insect pest in strawberry crops under semi-field conditions (an intermediate stage conducted under controlled conditions but closer to real-world agricultural conditions). This type of experiment bridges the gap between laboratory and field settings, allowing for the monitoring of trials as well as the analysis and interpretation of the results obtained. The primary objective of this master thesis is to determine the effective dose required to significantly reduce adult oviposition in fruit and, subsequently, to generate data for field trials.