The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is a pest control method that involves the mass production, sterilization, and release of target insect species. These sterile insects mate with wild counterparts, leading to non-viable offspring, thereby reducing pest populations without the need for chemical pesticides. SIT is employed in agriculture to combat various insect pests and is considered an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach to pest management.

1. Sheri-Kashmir
University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir
wadura sopore
“SIT IN PEST MANAGEMENT”
Umer Bin Farook & Dr Munazah Yaqoob
umerskuast@gmail.com
7006330435

2. CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITIONS OF SIT
PROCEDURE FOR SIT
SUCCESS STORIES
CURRENT TARGETS
ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATION
CONCLUSION

3. Introduction
 Population of the world is increasing by 80 million people per year (Hendrichs,
2014).
 There is an annual use of three million tons of pesticides worldwide and a 5%
increase annually.(Pimentel,2012).
 pest resistance,
 residues in food,
 environmental contamination,
 outbreaks of secondary pests, and
 reductions in populations of beneficial insects.
Indiscriminate use of insecticides has caused major problems :

4. Sterile Insect Technique(SIT):
• SIT was first described by Edward. F. Knipling in 1955.
"I wanted to contribute to
agriculture in ways other than
pulling a cotton sack down the
row."

5. Definitions:
“A method of pest control using area-wide inundative
releases of sterile insects to reduce fertility of a field
population of the same species” (FAO, 2005)
“The concept of controlling, managing and eliminating insect pests
by manipulating reproduction. (Knipling, 1955) ”

6. Objective Of SIT:
Eradication of pest not merely
suppression
(Hendrichs et al., 2005)

7. Principle of SIT:
Autocidal Control

8. Development of the sterile insect technique
Sterile Insect
Technique (SIT)
was initiated by
E.F. Knipling and
R.C. Bushland in
the 1930s
They worked
with the
screwworm fly,
a devastating
pest of cattle in
North America.
The first
successful use
of SIT to control
screwworm was
on the island of
Curaçao in
1953.

9. PROCEDURE FOR
SIT

10. Research towards mass production must emphasize
on:
Food or rearing media
Techniques for extracting all stages from the
media
Techniques to avoid crowding
Information on mating and oviposition behavior
Maximum automation

11. Attention need at rearing:
• Selection of artificial diet
• Waste disposal
• Biosecurity in a pest free area
Mediterranean fruit fly mass-rearing
facility in elpino Guatemala.
Heat treatment of eggs Racks of cages with adult flies Larval rearing trays

12. METHODS FOR STERILISATION:
1. IRRADIATION
X-RAYS γ- RAYS

13. Irradiation:
Mostly used method……….
both sexes are irradiated ,sterilized and released.
Mode of action: Radiation induces dominant lethal mutations in normal
sperm. (Franz,2000)
impacts on the overall quality of the insect after radiation expressed as the
development of abnormalities ,a reduction in lifespan, flight ability, mating
propensity, etc.
(Bakri et al., 2005).

14. Order Sterilizing Dose(Gy)
Coleoptera 13-200
Dictyoptera 5-140
Diptera 10-200
Hemiptera 10-200
Hymenoptera 80-100
Lepidoptera 40-400
Orthoptera 4-30
Estimated sterilization doses reported for nymphs or
pupae of insects from different taxonomic orders
(IDIDAS, 2010)

15. Radiation doses used to induce sterility in
different insect species in different countries:
Bakri et.al 2005

16. Scientific name Common name Stage
Sterilising
dose(rads)
Musa domestica House fly 2-3 days pupal 3000
Cochliomyia homnivorax Screwworm fly 5 days pupae
1day adult
2500
Drosophila melanogaster Fruit fly Adult males 5000-7000
Culex quinquefasciatus House mosquito pupae 11000-12000
Sitophilus oryzae Rice weevil 7-days adults 7500-11000
Tribolium confusum Confused flour beetle Old pupae 4000
PROCEDURE
FAO/IAEA 2003

17. Chemosterilants
1)Alkylating reagents- Largest class
-ex: Aholate,Aphomate,Aphoxide
2)Phosphorous
amides
3)Traizines
4)Antimetabolites ex:
5-Fluorouracil,2-
Thiouracil

18. FAO/IAEA-2006

19. Techniques for release
1. Aeril release-using aircrafts
2. Ground release
All-terrain vehicle (ATV)
If the release is delayed ,survival can be increased by chilling treatment

21. 1.Eradication of Tsetse fly (Glossina austeni ) from Zanzibar(1993-1997)
Transmited diseases like :
Sleeping sickness in humans
& Nagana in cattles.
Estimated losses over US$ 1.2 billons every year.
TTRI(Tsetse & trypanosomiasis research institute) in tanga, Tanzania in
collaborating with joint FAO/IAEA successfully eradicated the menace of tseste fly.
Sterilised male released= 70,000/week.
Sterilised using gamma rays(cobalt-60) with 12-17 Krad.
Flies released during the programe= 8 million.

23. 2.SCREWWORM Cochliomyia hominivorax

24. REASON BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF SIT
FEMALE SCREWWORM MATES
ONLY ONCE IN HER LIFETIME

25. GENERATION NATURAL
POPULATION
STERILE
INSECTS
RELEASED
S:F
MATINGS
INFERTILE
%PROGE
NY
NO.OF
FERTILRE
1 1000 2000 2:1 665.1 333
2 333 2000 6:1 85.7 47
3 47 2000 42:1 97.7 1
4 1 2000 2000:1 99.9 0
HYPOTHETICAL MODEL:
KNIPLING 1955

26. SUCCESSFUL ERADICATION OF SCREWWORM
In 1954, the technique was used to completely eradicate screwworms from the 176-
square-mile (460 km2) island of Curaçao
Screwworms were eliminated in a span of only seven weeks, saving the domestic
goat herds that were a source of meat and milk for the island people.
During the 1960s and 1970s, SIT was used to control the screwworm population in
the United States.
The 1980s saw Mexico and Belizium eliminate their screw worm problems through
the use of SIT
In 1991, Knipling and Bushland's technique halted a serious outbreak in northern
Africa.

27. 3.Med fly (Ceratitis capitata)
 Notorious quarantine pest
 Wide host range
 Estimated losses US $ 1.2 billion every year (APHIS Washington DC 1993)
 Alone Israel spend about US $1.5 million every year on cold treatment of fruits.
 First SIT programme started in mexico 1977
 Aimed to prevent spread of med fly from central america to mexico & usa.
 Mass rearing facility estabilised at EL-PINO Guetamala
 sterile insects released per week= 2.5 billion
 Sterilised by gamma radiation @ 80 Gy
 Med fly eradicated in 1982 from an area of
6,400 sq. kms (Tween 2004)

29. GENETIC SEXING STRAINING IN MED FLY
Using sex linked colour mutation (expressed at pupal stage)
Males –brown
females –white
But method was expensive &
Complicated with only 80% accuracy
(caceres et. al 2004).
Few years later IAEA/FAO division of nuclear science developed a technique in
which females were eliminated by exposing the eggs to 35⁰C for 24 hrs using tsl
mutation (Franz 2005)

30. Med fly facilities world-wide:
(Robinson 2010)

31. Insect Controlled
with
SIT
SIT Strategies Amount of
Radiation
Administered
(Gray)
Result in Area-
Wide release
programme
Countries
Involved
References
New World
Screwworm
(Cochliomyia
hominivorax
(Coquerel))
 No sexing
strategy
 γ-irradiation
50 Eradicated US,Mexico,Guate
mala,Panama,
Virgin
Islands,
Jamaica,Libya
Bushland &
Hopkins (1953),
Franz (2005).
Melon Fly
(Bactrocera
cucurbitae)
 chemosterliants
 γ-irradiation
70 Eradicated Japan Yosiaki et al.
(2003),
Queensland Fruit
Fly
(Bactrocera tryoni
(Froggatt))
 No sexing
strategy
 γ-irradiation
60-80 Supressed Australia Collins et al.
(2009)
Mediterranean
Fruit Fly
(Ceratitis capitata
(Wiedemann))
 Sexing strategy
 γ-irradiation
80-90 Eradicated Australia, US,
Mexico,
Guatemala, Israe
Caceres (2002),
Caceres et al.
(2007)
CONTINUE…..

32. Oriental Fruit Fly
(Bactrocera dorsalis
Hendel)
 No sexing strategy
 γ-irradiation
90 S Thailand Orankanok et al.
(2005),
Aketarawong et al.
(2010)
Mexican Fruit Fly
(Anastrepha ludens
(Loew))
 No sexing strategy
 γ-irradiation
20-80 S/E US (California),
Mexico
Franz (2005), Rull
et al. (2007)
Tsetse Fly (Glossina
austeni Newstead)
 Sex-specific time of
emergence
 γ- irradiation
(137Cs or 60Co)
120 E Zanziba Franz (2005),
Vreysen et al.
(2000)
Mosquitoes
(Anophele albimanus
Wiedemann)
 sexing strategy
 X-ray irradiation
unknown S El Salvador Franz (2005),
Codling moth (Cydia
pomonella (L.))
 No sexing strategy γ-
irradiation (60Co
 Gammacell 220)
250-400 E/S Canada ,
NewZealand,
Australia
Bloem et al.
(2005), Franz
(2005), Soopaya et
al. (2011)

33. STATUS OF SIT IN INDIA
In 1973,SIT was used against mosquitoes in delhi,
Using chemosterliants like THIOTEPA,
Over 25 weeks, 38 million sterile insects were released. (Yasuno et. al,1978)
Red palm weevil (Rhynchophorous ferrugineus) ------BARC
Spotted cotton bollworm (Earias vitelli) ---------------BARC
For fruit flies , a pilot study was initiated at ICAR-IIHR Banglore in collaboration
with BARC. (Reddy et. al,2016)
DAE/BARC, 2016

45. • sterile insect technique is arguably the most ecologically-compatible means
of pest control in existence time.
• It is not a stand-alone technology, but should be integrated with other pest
management technologies, such as bait application and sanitation, in an area-
wide program.
• It is the dominant component of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy.
• close collaboration of IAEA and FAO over the past four decades is succeeding
in developing and implementing SIT as an effective tool.