Abstract
Codling moth, Cydia pomonella, is the major pest of pome fruit, and especially difficult to control in organic farming in Southern fruit growing areas, where this pest has two and more generations per year. Mating disruption, Cydia pomonella GranuloVirus (CpGV) and entomopathogenic nematodes do not always provide adequate pest control. The active substance Spinosad shows high efficacy, but has also negative side effects on beneficial organisms. Furthermore residues of Spinosad remain detectable for a long time in fruits. From 2007 to 2011, several field trials with paraffin and plant oils have been conducted on apple and pear in the major Italian pome fruit growing areas, South Tyrol and Emilia Romagna. Results varied considerably: while only low efficacy levels were recorded in South Tyrol on apple, interesting and extremely promising results were obtained in Emilia Romagna on pear. Assumptions can be made to explain these differences, but none of them can be considered completely satisfactory.