Comparison of mineral oil spray with current synthetic pesticides to control important pests in citrus orchards and their side effects

Over the past years the most important citrus pests poorly controlled despite multiple spraying and growers suffered heavy damage. To this end, a study was done to evaluate and compare the conventional insecticides with mineral oil spray (MOS) for the control of citrus pests and adverse effects in citrus orchards in Mazandaran province. In this study, the diversity and abundance of carabid beetles, as a specific predator of snails, were compared in conventional and free protocol pesticide (or MOS) orchards. The results showed that the frequency and distribution of important citrus pests in free protocol pesticide orchards after three years of treatment was significantly lower than conventional orchards. The comparison showed that continual use of synthetic pesticides in citrus orchards in the province , leading to a sharp reduction in their population and species diversity. The results of this study indicate that the use of mineral oil can be a useful alternative to synthetic pesticides in citrus orchards of the East province