A study was conducted in 1992 and 1993 at the Pinney Purdue Research Station in Wanatah, IN, to investigate the impact of overhead irrigation on diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), infestation in head cabbage, Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata. When irrigation water was applied to cabbage by Whiz head, Mini head, or Buckner head sprinklers, diamondback moth infestations were reduced by 37.5-63.9% compared with a drip-irrigated control. All sprinkler heads resulted in significantly fewer diamondback moth numbers compared with the control, but no differences were noted among overhead irrigation treatments. Irrigation timed and applied daily with the Mini head sprinkler resulted in greatest reduction in diamondback moths. Sprinkler treatments applied between 1500 and 1700 hours continuously, 2000 and 2200 hours continuously, and 2000 and 2330 hours intermittently resulted in an average 53.7, 72.9, and 85.9% reduction in diamondback moth infestation, respectively. Best results were obtained by intermittent daily application of overhead irrigation between 2000 and 2330 hours.
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McHugh et al. (1995) studied this question.