Suresh Prabhakaran, sprabhakaan@dow.com, Dow AgroSciences, Urban Pest Management R&D, 9330 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN
As a result of methyl bromide phase out, several alternatives products and procedures have been researched to manage stored product pest populations in grain storage, mills, and processing plants. Substantial research has been conducted on heat, fumigants, residual insecticides, modified atmosphere and pest monitoring. One such IPM tool is ProFume gas fumigant, developed by Dow AgroSciences. ProFume has been developed with an emphasis on Precision FumigationTM. Precision Fumigation can be defined as optimizing fumigant use to maximize efficiency and minimize risk. Under this concept, fumigation factors such as pests to be controlled, temperature, half loss time (gas confinement) and exposure period are taken into consideration in customizing a fumigation plan and execution. Proper fumigant introduction, circulation, aeration and worker safety are also emphasized under this concept. This paper discusses Precision Fumigation concepts and its implementation and utilization in actual commercial fumigations using ProFume gas fumigant. By implementing Precision fumigation, an enhanced level of professionalism is being accomplished and should be a standard practice for any fumigant use.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Pyralidae
Plodia interpunctella (Indianmeal moth)
Species 2: Coleoptera Tenebrionidae
Tribolium castaneum (Red flour beetle)
Keywords: Sulfuryl fluoride, Fumigation