Track 2-2-1: Plant Diseases, Insect Pests and Weed Management
Description
Agriculture arose independently in many different regions, as people gradually lived closer together, became less nomadic, and focussed their food production on plants that were amenable to repeated sowing and harvesting. Historically, insects have been the most significant herbivores, and the evolution of plants is closely associated with the evolution of insects. The study of plant defences against herbivory is important, not only from an evolutionary view point, but also in the direct impact that these defences have on agriculture, including human and livestock. Success of natural enemies particularly well recognized egg parasitoid, Trichogrammatid (Balakrishnan et al., 2004) in pest management depends upon its host acceptance and searching efficiency in a highly complex crop environment due to release of several volatile compounds termed as allelochemicals (synomones and kairomones). Grasses planted around the perimeter of the crop attract and trap the pests, Desmodium, planted between the rows of maize repel the pests and control the parasitic plant Striga, via Push-Pull technology in which the target crop is intercropped with herbivore repellent plants (push), while attractant plants (pull) are planted around this intercrop. The intercrop, in addition to repelling the herbivores, attracts and conserves natural enemies thereby ensuring continued suppression of the pests. Thus, volatile compounds released by sudan grass, napier grass and other highly attractive hosts were captured by absorption into a porous polymer to enable identification of semiochemicals likely to have attractant activity at the levels released by the plant. This is exploited by smallholder farmers in eastern Africa in the management of cereal stem borers in maize and sorghum (Khan, et al., 2007). Modifying insect behaviour in pest management programs through the utilization of non-toxic semiochemicals is recognized as a promising alternative to conventional approaches. The purpose of a formulation comprising kairomone is the dilution of the highly concentrated compound down to a level at which it will be effective in orientation of a natural enemy towards host insects or its niche without causing harm to the non-target organisms and the natural habitat. It is important to note that the pesticide formulation is a physical mixture of one or more biologically active chemicals and inert ingredients, which provide effective and economical control of the pests, while kairomonal formulation is aimed to enhance the parasitism or predation capacity of a target natural enemy. However, concerted efforts on the application aspects of kairomones especially development of suitable kairomonal formulation against Trichogramma spp. is extremely scanty. The present study was carried out to identify effective kairomonal compound, optimum concentration and appropriate application technique to increase the parasitizing efficiency of T. chilonis.
Included in
Parasitization Efficiency of Kairomonal Dust Formulations against Egg Parasitoid Trichogramma spp (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)
Agriculture arose independently in many different regions, as people gradually lived closer together, became less nomadic, and focussed their food production on plants that were amenable to repeated sowing and harvesting. Historically, insects have been the most significant herbivores, and the evolution of plants is closely associated with the evolution of insects. The study of plant defences against herbivory is important, not only from an evolutionary view point, but also in the direct impact that these defences have on agriculture, including human and livestock. Success of natural enemies particularly well recognized egg parasitoid, Trichogrammatid (Balakrishnan et al., 2004) in pest management depends upon its host acceptance and searching efficiency in a highly complex crop environment due to release of several volatile compounds termed as allelochemicals (synomones and kairomones). Grasses planted around the perimeter of the crop attract and trap the pests, Desmodium, planted between the rows of maize repel the pests and control the parasitic plant Striga, via Push-Pull technology in which the target crop is intercropped with herbivore repellent plants (push), while attractant plants (pull) are planted around this intercrop. The intercrop, in addition to repelling the herbivores, attracts and conserves natural enemies thereby ensuring continued suppression of the pests. Thus, volatile compounds released by sudan grass, napier grass and other highly attractive hosts were captured by absorption into a porous polymer to enable identification of semiochemicals likely to have attractant activity at the levels released by the plant. This is exploited by smallholder farmers in eastern Africa in the management of cereal stem borers in maize and sorghum (Khan, et al., 2007). Modifying insect behaviour in pest management programs through the utilization of non-toxic semiochemicals is recognized as a promising alternative to conventional approaches. The purpose of a formulation comprising kairomone is the dilution of the highly concentrated compound down to a level at which it will be effective in orientation of a natural enemy towards host insects or its niche without causing harm to the non-target organisms and the natural habitat. It is important to note that the pesticide formulation is a physical mixture of one or more biologically active chemicals and inert ingredients, which provide effective and economical control of the pests, while kairomonal formulation is aimed to enhance the parasitism or predation capacity of a target natural enemy. However, concerted efforts on the application aspects of kairomones especially development of suitable kairomonal formulation against Trichogramma spp. is extremely scanty. The present study was carried out to identify effective kairomonal compound, optimum concentration and appropriate application technique to increase the parasitizing efficiency of T. chilonis.
