1 Introduction

For the majority of the population (almost 65%) in Nepal agriculture is the major source of livelihood, which contributes 23.95% in GDP (MoALD, 2022, https://moald.gov.np/). Horticultural crops have a major role in sustaining Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP) of Nepal. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) belongs to the family Solanaceae, which is a widely grown vegetable in the world as well as in Nepal. In the mid hills of Nepal, it is grown in two seasons – spring and rainy whereas in terai it is grown in winter season. Tomatoes can help improve the economic standard of subsistence farmers by comparatively high returns compared to low returns cereal crops. Its demand in the market is increasing day by day. Tomato is also known as poor man’s orange, which is rich in vitamin C, calcium, folate, protein, minerals and antioxidants. Tomatoes are threatened by various pests and diseases such as thrips, aphids, mealy bug, leaf miners, tomato worms, leafhoppers and early leaf blight, late blight, fruit rot, Septoria leaf spot, anthracnose etc. respectively. Tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (gelechiidae) is one of the dangerous pests of tomato native to South America (Michereff Filho et al., 2000).

Despite being near to the capital of the country, the availability of inputs such as fertilizers, seeds and required chemicals are not in time, which causes the limitation in production of vegetables including tomato in Lele, Bisankhunarayan and Chapagau village of Lalitpur district. The major causes of limiting production are unavailability of inputs in time, irrigation problems in winter, middle man involvement in the value chain, various pests and disease, biotic and abiotic stresses. Among the various causes the occurrence of pests, especially Tuta absoluta, is one of the major problems to reduce quality and quantity of tomato production of tomato (Upreti et al., 2020). Field observation shows that farmers have been using different preventive measures like pheromone traps, insecticides, and various cultural methods to protect the crops, despite that none of the methods showing the significant solution of problems. Leaf miner is the invasive pest causing the destructive damage either directly by reducing yield or indirectly by reducing the quality of produce or consumer preferences and export. From the year of invasion, it is causing devastating damage in tomato farms of Lalitpur (Lamsal et al., 2018).

Though various efforts made by farmers and pesticide management and quarantine centre for controlling leaf miner infestation by using traps, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods and insecticides, the result is not so encouraging. Farmers mostly use the pesticides, but they lack the knowledge about proper way of application and major time in which application is effective. Various research has been done to find out the measures to reduce the damage but most of them lacks to assess which method is most effective. So, this study will help to identify which method is most effective to check the population of the Leaf miners for effective management with the major period of infestation.

2 Materials and Methods

2.1 Experimental site and sub-sector

The research was conducted in Lele VDC of Lalitpur district, which falls under Bagmati province. It covers five wards 2, 5, 6, 10 and 11 of Godawari municipality, assigned under the PMAMP vegetable zone of Lalitpur district. Lalitpur lies within 1,324 m at lower elevation to the 2,300 m at the higher elevation from sea level. 

2.2 Preliminary field visit

For the collection of information regarding the social structure, demographic features, topographical features and field condition, preliminary visit was done in the experimental site. The information collected was the basis for the preparation of questionnaire, sampling design and application of sampling techniques.

2.3 Sample and sampling techniques

The sampling frame was designed through the profile of farmers of Godawari municipality ward number 2, 5, 6, 10 and 11 of Lalitpur district. 70 households were drawn by using a disproportionate simple random sampling technique from the sampling frame. 

2.4 Research instrument/design

2.4.1 Pre testing

The questionnaire was pre-tested prior to administering to the actual respondents for checking the reliability and validity of questionnaire. The pre-testing was done on 10 percent respondent near to study area. The correction was made in the final questionnaire format. 

2.4.2 Household survey

Total 70 individual households were face to face contacted and interviewed through a semi-structured questionnaire including information, knowledge, experience and perception of Tuta absoluta, its prevalence status and management practices. Age group above 25 years will be in priority as they are likely to be more experience.

2.4.3 Key informant interview

To develop further idea of the study site, informal discussion and interview with key informant was done. 15 Key Information Interview was done with the progressive farmers, Zone officer and other beneficiaries to obtain key information. For this a separate checklist will be used.

2.4.4 Field observation

Field was observed frequently to verify every collected data from household survey and KII.

2.5 Data and data type

2.5.1 Primary data

Primary data was collected from the farmers of experimental site, who have been experiencing the problem of T. absoluta.

2.5.2 Secondary data

Sources of secondary data was annual reports, pamphlets, records of zone, and various Agricultural and horticultural agencies, NGO’s and INGO’s. Publications and websites of FAO, MOALD will be made accessible for withdrawal of data. 

2.6 Data analysis techniques

The various assistive media for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of gathered data were statistical package for social science (SPSS) and Excel. Information collected from household survey, focus group discussion, case study was coded first and entered into computer. Data entry was done by using SPSS, Microsoft excel and descriptive analysis was done to analyse the data.

The data like name, age, year, educational status, occupation and some sensitive data and impact of the Tuta absoluta and control measures followed by tomato farmers was studied by estimating frequency, percentage, charts and diagrams and other such tools was used to present the data. Preferential ranking was done by indexing: 

Where, I imp = Index of importance; Si= scale value; N= No. of respondents; fi= Frequency of importance given by respondents

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 Sociodemographic characteristics of farmers

The study results show that 71% of total farmers were the age group of 30-50 followed by 16% were under 30 and 13% were above 50 years. The percentage of males was (57%) and females was (43%), which showed the satisfactory participation of women in agriculture activities compared to other programs. The majority of respondents were Janajati (47.1%) followed by Bramin/Chettri (41.4%). Four-point three percent of respondents belong to Dalit category while 7.1% of respondents belong to others, which includes madeshi, aadhibashi etc. Total 57% migrated from other various districts of Nepal in search of better opportunities whereas, only 43% were the permanent residents of Lalitpur. The main occupation of 75.7% of households was agriculture, followed by foreign employment (10%), service holders (86%) and business (5.7%). This means that agriculture is the main source of income for 75.7% of families in Godawari municipality, Lalitpur. Only about 28.6% percent of the tomato growers were involved in co-operatives/farmers groups whereas 71.4% percent were not involved in any co-operatives/farmers groups.

3.2 Education level of respondent

The literacy level of the farmers has an impact on modernizing the agriculture framework and improvement in the practices (Pudasaini, 1983). The study revealed that 21.4 % were illiterate, 24.5% were only educated primarily, 45.7% were educated in secondary level whereas only 2.9% were educated in higher level (Figure 1). The study also shows that 5.7% were educated JT/JTA.

3.3 Land type and total land of farmers

Most of the farmers 68.6% of them had rented the land for agricultural practices. Only 31.4% of farmers had their own land for agricultural practices. Total 83% of farmers have an irrigation system, whereas 8% of them are facing irrigation problems and 9% of them have land which can be both rainfed and irrigated artificially.

The results revealed that total land holding of farmers ranges from 0.101 to 1.730 hectares with the mean of 0.376 (Table 1). Whereas area under tomato cultivation ranges from 0.050 to 1.272 hectare indicating the commercial tomato production.

3.4 Tomato cultivation

Most of the farmers cultivate tomatoes in poly houses because of frost problems in this area with holding 77% in this category. A total of 16% of the farmers cultivate tomato in both polyhouses and open field and only 7% farmers cultivate tomato in open field. Out of a total 70 households only 5.7 % farmers did not have polyhouses whereas 94.3 % of them cultivate tomatoes in polyhouses. Mostly tomato cultivation was done in both in Magh-Falgun with 80% cultivation. Out of total, 17.1% farmers cultivate tomato Chaitra-Baisakh and 2.8% farmers only in Baisakh-Jestha. Total 62.9 % of farmers are involved in commercial cultivation of tomato for selling purpose followed by 32.9 % of farmers cultivate tomato for both home consumption and selling purpose and 4.3% of farmers cultivate tomato for only home consumption purpose. The study revealed that 42.9 percent of the respondents had experience of tomato farming from 1 to 3 years whereas 35.7 percent had experience of 4 to 7 years. Similarly, 12 percent had experience of 7 to 10 years and 3 percent had more than 10 years of experience on commercial tomato farming.

3.4.1 Number of polyhouses

Study revealed that the number of polyhouses of individual farmers in Godawari municipality Lalitpur ranges from 1 to 100 with the mean of 16.12 and total sum of 66 households were 1064 (Table 2).

3.4.2 Preferred variety by farmers

Study revealed that 57.1% of farmers prefer Srijana variety because of suitable size which is preferred by consumers and has high market value (Figure 2). Both Super Srijana and improved Srijana were preferred by 17.1% of farmers. Similarly, Samjhana and Dalila varieties of tomato were cultivated by 5.7% and 2.9% of farmers respectively.

3.5 Problems in production aspect of tomato

3.5.1 Production problem ranking in tomato

Tomato growers have many problems related to production out of which main problems are in disease and pests, unavailability of inputs, soil testing problems and lack of technical know-how etc. The severity of the problems in tomato production was studied using forced ranking. The severity index showed that disease and pests was the most severe problem with an index of 0.888 followed by unavailability of inputs with an index of 0.689 (Table 3). Soil testing problem was the third most severe problem with an index of 0.667. Similarly, natural calamities, lack of techniques to know how and irrigation problem was found as the fourth, fifth and sixth problem with an index of 0.458, 0.443 and 0.367, respectively.

3.5.2 Insect pest ranking on the basis of severity in tomato production

Three different pests were observed in tomatoes in different proportions of infestation during a preliminary visit to the study site. All of them were listed and asked to rank in terms of infestation range through interviews, FGD and questionnaires. P implies the problematic pest, similarly P1 implies for highly major pest, P2 implies Moderately significant pest and P3 for minor pest (Table 4).

Index value was given to each pest according to the priority placed by respondents. Responses recorded showed tomato leaf miner on the 1^st rank, then after whitefly followed by tomato fruit borer on 2^nd and 3^rd rank respectively. Tomato leaf miner has created a severe decrement in the overall yield. Production and marketing range vary greatly due to the worse impact of tomato leaf miner pests. Tomato fruit borer and tomato mosaic virus are two of the most important problems, but a new threat has emerged with the introduction of a new pest, Tuta absoluta (Saidov et al., 2018; Simkhada et al., 2019).

3.5.3 Diseases ranking on the basis of severity in tomato production

The severity index showed that among diseases, late blight was the most severe affecting the profitability of tomatoes with an index of 0.919 (Table 5). Tomato mosaic virus diseases and damping off were found second and third most severe diseases with an index value of 0.799 and 0.733, respectively. Similarly, Wilting was found least severe with an index of 0.554.

3.6 Consultation for problem

When various problems are encountered during farming 51.4% farmers consult agrovet, followed by 32.9% to friends/neighbours (Table 6) Only 7% and 4 % of them consult with NGO/INGOs and government agencies respectively.

3.7 Tuta absoluta

Tuta absoluta has been a serious issue in tomato cultivation around here. As study had uncovered 80-100 percent of yield loss happened because of this pest and more than $50 million USD (Desneux et al., 2010).

3.7.1 Infestation of Tuta absoluta in the study area

This pest started from Kathmandu and spread to Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kavre, and Dhading and to Kaski, Baglung, Parbat, Tanahun and also seen in Myagdi. Studies carried out by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) in May and June of 2016 identified and confirmed the presence of the pest in 14 locations in the first five districts mentioned above (Bajracharya et al., 2016). From the survey research it was found that there is no infestation in 20% i.e., 14 farmers (Figure 3). So further questions were asked only to the 80% i.e 56 respondents out of 70.

3.7.2 Damage symptoms of Tuta absoluta

Leaves, stems and fruits of tomato are majorly affected by Tuta absoluta. It mainly attacks the leaf and, on advancement, affects the other parts (Illakwahhi et al., 2017; Alam et al., 2019). Larva of this insect mines on the fruit, stem and leaves of tomato. Common signs and symptoms of Tuta absoluta on fruit and stems include puncture marks, abnormal shape, exit holes, rot due to secondary infective agents. Fruits show puncture marks on the surface where the larva has entered the plant. Leaves dry out completely and flying moths can be seen around the plant in the severe condition.

3.7.3 Most damaging stage of crop by Tuta absoluta

Tuta absoluta effects in all stages of crop however the damage mostly occurs in early stages compared to late stages of crops. According to the survey results (Table 7), 57.1% farmers faced the damages in all stages while 23.2% and 17.9% of farmers faced damage in vegetative and fruiting stages of crop respectively. Only 1.8% of farmers faced damage in ripening stages of crop.

3.7.4 Ranking of Tuta absoluta out of many problems

Tuta absoluta was found the most problematic of all problems among 64.3% of the respondent, more problematic than other insects, pest, disease and disorders among 23.2% and as problematic as other insects and pest, diseases and disorder among 8.9% of respondents (Figure 4). It was not as problematic as other insects, pests, diseases and disorder among 3.6% of the respondents. The result showed that the havoc of Tuta absoluta was the highest in Lalitpur.

3.7.5 Knowledge level on life cycle of Tuta absoluta

It can be seen that out of the 70 respondents, 81% were unaware about the life cycle of Tuta absoluta (Figure 5). Only 19% of them had knowledge on the life cycle of this insect.

3.7.6 Yield loss due to Tuta absoluta

In the study area the yield loss ranges from 10% minimum to 90% maximum. 56.52% was the mean yield loss due to the infestation of this pest (Table 8). But in most severe cases it can cause loss up to 80%-100% (Sah et al., 2017). Economic losses due to Tuta absoluta in tomatoes have been reported to be up to 100% in some countries in Africa particularly Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Chidege et al. (2016) reported a yield loss of 80%-100% by this pest from countries in Northern and Western Africa.

3.8 Control measures

The complete eradication of Tuta absoluta is impossible. But all the farmers are using control measures to minimize its adverse effect. These control methods include chemical pesticides, bioagents, and mass traps using pheromones and botanical extracts. B. thuringiensis has been demonstrated to be quite effective at minimizing damage (González-Cabrera et al., 2011). Biological method of pest management was not used by any of the farmers due to lack of availability and technical know-how. Multiple responses of the respondent were employed as a tool for analysis of the most adopted management practices, so the total percent was more than 100. Out of the survey population all of them are using cultural methods, 81.4% following botanical methods, 72.9% are using traps followed by 41.9 % using insect net and only 35.7% using chemical methods to control and manage the Tuta absoluta below the economic injury level (Figure 6). 

3.8.1 Checking of pest period

Most of the respondents were only involved in agriculture therefore the majority of them spent all working hours of day in the field. 64.3% of farmers check in the pest on a daily basis which is followed by 19.6% checking a couple times a week (Table 9). Similarly, 12.5% and 3.6 % checks for pests once a week and not very often respectively.

3.8.2 Training on Integrated pest management (IPM)

Out of surveyed populations where actual infestation of Tuta occurs only 25.7% were taking the training on IPM but 74.3%, those who hadn’t taken training were also using IPM methods within their knowledge limits (Table 10). The IPM program was designed and implemented with an ecologically based participatory IPM strategy (Norton et al., 2005).

3.8.3 Mechanical method of pest management

Various mechanical methods had been used by farmers. Among them 72.9 % use traps, 42.9% use insect nets and 51.8 % pick up the larvae by hand and kill them manually (Table 11; Table 12; Table 13). Considering all 70 respondents for insect net and traps used and only 56 respondents for picking up the larva where TLM infestation has occurred.

3.8.4 Knowledge about TLM Pheromone lure

The results showed that only 43% of farmers had knowledge about TLM lure while 57% did not know about TLM Lure even though they use it by others recommendations (Figure 7).

3.8.5 Types of traps used by farmers

Among the various traps none of the farmers used light traps because of difficulty in instalment and maintenance. 56.9% used both Wotta t traps and sticky traps whereas 31.4% and 11.8% used Sticky traps and Wotta T traps respectively (Table 14).

3.8.6 Cultural method of pest management

All of the farmers use cultural methods for keeping the pests under control. But the majority of farmers 82.1% remove infested parts of plants while only 12.5% remove whole plants after severe infestation (Table 15). Crop rotation is not really common which is only 5.4% among the farmers of Lalitpur specially among those farmers who rented the land for farming. Intercropping of tomatoes is also done with other vegetables.

3.8.7 Botanical pesticides used for pest management

Farmers of Lalitpur knowingly and unknowingly preferred botanicals over chemical pesticides. Out of the surveyed farmers 48% sprayed neem-based pesticides, 34% sprayed Dada gourd plus and 18% sprayed Jholmal made by using urine of cow, Neem, Asuro, Sisno, Titepati, Chilly, Garlic, etc (Table 16). They made the paste out of it and mixed it with water in varying ratios depending upon seedlings or older plants.

3.8.8 Chemical pesticides used for pest management

Among the various chemical pesticides, Chlorantraniliprole and Emamectine benzoate were used by 12% of farmers each (Table 17). Thirty-six percent of farmers used the pesticides but didn’t know the chemical name of them. Similarly, as the table describes Chloropyriphos and cypermethrin is used by 20% of them. Whereas, 8% sprayed Spinosad and Thiomethoxam each and only 4% sprayed Dimethoate for pest management.

3.8.9 Mode of application of pesticides

Survey study revealed that 77.1% use protection measures while spraying pesticides (Table 18). Among the various measures 48.1% only use masks, 25.9% only use masks and gloves, 16.7% only use masks, gloves and glasses and only 9.3% of them use all masks, gloves, glass and separate clothes while spraying the pesticides (Table 19). 22.9 percent of farmers sprayed the pesticides without using any protection measures. Consequently, vegetable farmers excessively use pesticides without any consideration of health and environment (Karmacharya, 2012).

3.8.10 Effective control measures

Among all the different control methods used by farmers, our research objective was also to investigate the effective control measures for Tuta absoluta from the farmer's perspective. The highly effective (1) measure in farmers perspective was botanical methods with index 0.933, followed by chemical methods (0.8) as effective measure with index 0.920 (Table 20). Use of traps and lures were ranked as moderately effective (0.6) and cultural methods as less effective (0.4) measure with index 0.779 and 0.517 respectively.

3.9 The influence of training on IPM on different variables

3.9.1 Use of insect net

The results revealed that out of 18 respondents who participated in training, 12 respondents used insect net while 6 respondents did not use insect net (Table 21). Similarly, out of 52 respondents who did not participate in IPM training, 18 respondents used insect net whereas 34 did not use net as control measures. Chi square test was performed to determine the association. The chi square value was 5.609 and p value = 0.018, significant at 5% level of significance. This result signifies that the association between IPM training and use of insect net is statistically significant.

3.9.2 Knowledge about TLM Pheromones

The results revealed that out of 15 respondents who participated in training, 14 respondents had knowledge about TLM Pheromones while 1 respondent was not aware about TLM Pheromones (Table 22). Similarly, out of 41 respondents who did not participate in IPM training, 10 respondents had knowledge about TLM Pheromones whereas 31 respondents were unaware about TLM Pheromones which are used in control measures. Chi square test was performed to determine the association. The chi square value was 21.315 and p value = <0.001, significant at 1% level of significance. This result signifies that the association between IPM training and knowledge about TLM Pheromones is statistically significant. 

4 Conclusion

The study conducted in Godawari municipality, Lalitpur, highlights significant insights into tomato cultivation and pest management strategies among local farmers. Despite the high tomato productivity in Lalitpur compared to national averages, the infestation by Tuta absoluta, a major pest, poses severe challenges. The study reveals that 80% of farmers experience Tuta absoluta infestations, causing substantial yield losses ranging from 10% to 90%, with an average loss of 56.52%. Notably, only 19% of farmers are aware of the pest's life cycle, indicating a critical gap in knowledge. Among the control measures, botanical methods emerged as the most effective, with 71.4% of farmers employing them, followed by mechanical methods such as traps and insect nets. Chemical pesticides are used by 35.7% of farmers, while biological methods are absent due to a lack of knowledge. 

This study underscores the urgent need for enhanced farmer education on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Tuta absoluta's life cycle. Future research should focus on developing and disseminating effective IPM strategies and increasing awareness and training for farmers to better manage and mitigate the impact of Tuta absoluta on tomato crops.

Authors’ contributions

SA designed and implemented the survey, collected data, interpreted and analyzed the results, and wrote the manuscript. SGS, RK, and DS analyzed data, interpreted the results, and contributed to writing the manuscript. SA and RG collected data and prepared the manuscript. SM evaluated and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledgement Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal and Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project, Project Implementation Unit, Vegetable zone, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur for this constant support and guidance during the research period.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

The authors affirm that this research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

Alam M.J., Ahmed K.S., Rony M.N.H., Islam N.E.T., and Bilkis S.E., 2019, Bio-efficacy of bio-pesticides against tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta, a threatening pest of tomato, J. Biosci. Agric., 22(2): 1852-1862. 

https://doi.org/10.18801/jbar.220219.229

Bajracharya A.S.R., Mainali R.P., Bhat B., Bista S., Shashank P.R., and Meshram N.M., 2016, The first record of South American tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Nepal, Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 4(4): 1359-1363.

Chidege M., Al-zaidi S., Hassan N., Julie A., Kaaya E., and Mrogoro S., 2016, First record of tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Tanzania, Agriculture & Food Security, 5(1): 1-7.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-016-0066-4

Desneux N., Wajnberg E., Wyckhuys K., Burgio G., Arpaia S., Narváez-Vasquez C., Gonzalez-Cabrera J., Ruescas D., Tabone E., Frandon J., Pizzol J., Poncet C., Cabello T., and Urbaneja A., 2010, Biological invasion of European tomato crops by Tuta absoluta: ecology, geographic expansion and prospects for biological control, Journal of Pest Science, 83: 197-215.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-010-0321-6

González-Cabrera J., Mollá O., Montón H., and Urbaneja A., 2011, Efficacy of Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) in controlling the tomato borer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), BioControl, 56(1): 71-80.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-010-9310-1

Illakwahhi D.T., and Srivastava B.B.L., 2017, Control and management of tomato leaf miner-Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)(Lepidotera, Gelechiidae), A review. IOSR J. Appl. Chem, 10(6): 14-22.

https://doi.org/10.9790/5736-1006011422

Karmacharya S., 2012, Pesticide use in agriculture and its socio-economic contexts, A case study of Panchkhal area, Kavre, Nepal, International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 1(9): 17-20.

Lamsal A., Sah L.P., Giri A.P., Devkota M., Colavito L.A., Norton G., Rajotte E., and Muniappan R., 2018, Occurrence of South American tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) and current management practices adopted by farmers in Lalitpur district, Nepal, Journal of the Plant Protection Society, 5: 155-165.

https://doi.org/10.3126/jpps.v5i0.47126

Michereff Filho M., Vilela E.F., Jham G.N., Attygalle A., Svatos A., and Meinwald J., 2000, Initial studies of mating disruption of the tomato moth, Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) using synthetic sex pheromone, Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, 11: 621-628.

https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-50532000000600011

Norton G.W., Heinrichs E.A., Luther G.C., and Irwin M.E. (Eds.), 2005, Globalizing Integrated Pest Management: A Participatory Research Process. Blackwell Publishing, pp.13-23.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470290163.ch2

Pudasaini S.P., 1983, The effects of education in agriculture: evidence from Nepal, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 65(3): 509-515.

https://doi.org/10.2307/1240499

Sah L., Devkota M., Colavito L., Dhakal Y., Yendyo S., G.C Y.D., Sharma D.R., Norton G., Rajotte E., Paudel S., and Muniappan R., 2017, Tomato Leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) and its management in Nepal. 

Saidov D., Yuldashev A., Khudoyberdiev H., Musaev A., and Khudoydodov M., 2018, First report of invasive South American tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)(Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Tajikistan, Florida Entomologist, 101(1): 147-149.

https://doi.org/10.1653/024.101.0129

Simkhada R., and Thapa R.B., 2019, Biology and population growth parameters of tomato leaf miner, (Tuta absoluta, Meyrick) (Gelechiidae: Lepidoptera), on tomato in the laboratory, Journal of Agriculture and Environment, 20: 29-39.

https://doi.org/10.3126/aej.v20i0.25005

Upreti E., Rajbhandari B., Devkota M., Colavito L., and Sah L., 2020, Evaluation of the impact and adoption of IPM against Tuta absoluta in Kavre and Lalitpur districts, pp.200-209.