Major Pests and Pest Management Strategies in the Sweet Pepper (Capsicum annuum)

Abstract

Sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum) (Solanaceae) fruits have been used as a food ingredient in Peru for more than 8,000 years. Then gradually, the plant has been cultivated in several countries worldwide. The fruits of the plant can be added to soups and stews as spices. These were reported to treat fevers, seasickness, muscle sprains, or soreness. Thrips, whiteflies, mites, and aphids were critical pests in sweet peppers. Therefore, effectively managing this important fruit to improve its yields and quality is very important. Pesticides have harmful effects on the environment and health of people. Therefore, alternative pest management strategies become more advisable to control pests of sweet pepper. These strategies including intercropping of sweet pepper with other plants, oviposition deterrents, natural enemy release, use of resistant cultivars, and eliciting plant defenses are implemented as environment-friendly control methods.

Assessment of Balkan Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Accessions for Agronomic, Fruit Quality, and Pest Resistance Traits

“…Therefore, alternative pest management strategies are needed in order to control pests frequently causing damage to the sweet pepper. Overall, the use of integrated techniques, including intercropping pepper with other crops, oviposition deterrents, releasing natural predators, and use of resistant cultivars as environment-friendly control methods, have been seen to be very effective [46]. The identified accessions that show promising prospects for the targeted morphological, fruit quality, and biotic stress tolerance traits could be further utilized in ideotype development and subsequently be included in trait introgression and cultivar development for an excellent combination of productivity, fruit morphology, quality, and insect resistance.…”