Synergistic effects of ground cover and adjacent vegetation on natural enemies of olive insect pests

Background: Field pea, Pisum sativum L. is an important winter-season pulse crop. It is subjected to damage by both field and storage insect pests and approximately 10-15 per cent reduction in yield was reported due to the infestation of different insect pests. Among these, pulse aphid (Aphis craccivora Koch.) affects plant physiology directly by removal of nutrients or indirectly by dispersal of various viral diseases. The present investigation has been aimed to study the seasonal fluctuations of aphids and their natural enemies as well as their correlation. Another objective was to know the effect of various weather parameters on pulse aphids and their natural enemies which ultimately would be helpful to develop a forewarning model.Methods: The field experiment was conducted at the A-B Block Farm of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal using two varieties of field pea (KPMR 935 and IFPD 122) during rabi seasons of two consecutive years of 2017-18 and 2018-19 following a Randomized Block Design with three replications. After recording the total population of both pests (nymphs and adults) and their natural enemies across the season, the mean population was worked out and used for correlation and regression studies along with the weather parameters. Result: Maximum aphid population was noticed during the peak pod formation stage of the crop irrespective of the varieties. The pest population was very strongly correlated with the incidence of coccinellid and ant population in both test varieties. Among the weather parameters, both maximum and minimum temperature and sunshine hour showed a positive correlation with the pest population and their natural enemies but relative humidity and rainfall showed a negative correlation. Regression studies indicated that temperature and relative humidity were the most influencing factors over the incidence of aphid in both the seasons.

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Application of Trap Cropping as Companion Plants for the Management of Agricultural Pests: A Review

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects9040128 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 128 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Shovon Chandra Sarkar ◽

Endong Wang ◽

Shengyong Wu ◽

Zhongren Lei

Keyword(s):

Pest Management ◽

Natural Enemies ◽

Natural Enemy ◽

Insect Pests ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Critical Time ◽

Trap Crops ◽

Companion Plant ◽

Trap Cropping

Companion planting is a well-known strategy to manage insect pests and support a natural enemy population through vegetative diversification. Trap cropping is one such type of special companion planting strategy that is traditionally used for insect pest management through vegetative diversification used to attract insect pests away from the main crops during a critical time period by providing them an alternative preferred choice. Trap crops not only attract the insects for feeding and oviposition, but also act as a sink for any pathogen that may be a vector. Considerable research has been conducted on different trap crops as companion plant species to develop improved pest management strategies. Despite this, little consensus exists regarding optimal trap cropping systems for diverse pest management situations. An advantage of trap cropping over an artificially released natural enemy-based biological control could be an attractive remedy for natural enemies in cropping systems. Besides, many trap crop species can conserve natural enemies. This secondary effect of attracting natural enemies may be an advantage compared to the conventional means of pest control. However, this additional consideration requires a more knowledge-intensive background to designing an effective trap cropping system. We have provided information based on different trap crops as companion plant, their functions and an updated list of trap cropping applications to attract insect pests and natural enemies that should be proven as helpful in future trap cropping endeavors.

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