Potential of pigeon pea as a trap crop for control of fruit worm infestation and damage to okra

Abstract

The potential of perimeter trap cropping, using short and extra-short duration pigeon pea (SD PP and ESD PP), sorghum and cotton, was evaluated in Niger as an agroecological alternative to pesticide application on okra for the management of the tomato fruit worm (TFW) Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). In 2008, infestation by TFW and damage by fruit worms of unsprayed okra with SD PP borders was intermediate between cypermethrin-sprayed and unsprayed pure okra crops. In 2009, the cypermethrin-sprayed okra was significantly less damaged by fruit worms than in the unsprayed pure okra, as well as in the unsprayed okra crops with SD PP, sorghum and cotton borders. In 2010, the pure okra crop sprayed with cypermethrin was significantly less infested by TFW than the unsprayed pure okra crop and the unsprayed okra crop with SD PP borders. The unsprayed okra crop with ESD PP borders was intermediate between cypermethrin-sprayed and unsprayed pure okra crops. The slightly lower TFW infestation of the unsprayed okra crop with ESD PP borders was a result of increased top-down regulation by predator spiders, whose colonization was significantly higher on the unsprayed okra crop with ESD PP borders than on both (sprayed and unsprayed) pure okra crops. (Résumé d'auteur

Field evaluation of sweet corn varieties for their potential as a trap crop forHelicoverpa zeaunder tropical conditions

“…We expected to find wolf spiders (Lycosidae) and jumping spiders (Salticidae) in our sweet corn plots because our study site was the same as that used for a study by Mollot et al (2014) on ground-dwelling predators in banana (Nyffeler 1999;Pfannenstiel 2008;Da Silva et al 2014). Predation of a closely related species, Helicoverpa armigera, by spiders was also suggested by Ratnadass et al (2014). Ants may also enhance the biological control of H. zea.…”

Screening of okra (Abelmoschus species) genotype for resistance to root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne species)

“…These ecotypes cultivated by peasants would probably be of more populations than pure lines. In addition to this, is the drought, the diseases and the attacks of the insect pests which cause a significant reduction of its production (Dabiré-Binso et al, 2009;Sanwal et al, 2014Sanwal et al, , 2016Ratnadass et al, 2014;Kumar and Chowdhury, 2019), thus bringing to play the last roles in the country's agricultural research programs, despite the existence of a variety of ecotypes that can be used in the creation of short-cycle varieties or resistant to certain abiotic or biotic constraints. The low rate of existence of improved varieties argues in favor of a participatory selection strategy that takes into account the selection criteria of farmers, integrating the tolerance or resistance of the genotype to the drastic conditions of the environment such as root attack from okra by nematodes (case of genus Meloidogyne) to critical periods of the realization of its genetic potential.…”