Ibrahim Saleem (Abu Dhabi)
The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority has warned farmers against ignoring the economic effects of the white insect on vegetables, including zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant, which can lead to farmers suffering losses in the harvest, if they neglect their endurance. workshop organized by the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority on integrated management The whitefly on “remote” horticultural crops with “the beginning of the agricultural season”, during which it was found that it could lead to destruction of the crop in the absence of resistance.
The authority asked not to abuse nitrogen fertilizers, not to rely on a specific pesticide, and to diversify into short-term pesticides so that the insects do not gain immunity from pesticides. the lion aphid.
The fly spreads all over the world, which indicates its danger and speed of spread, and has begun to appear in the country over the last decade, and includes whitefly families of up to 400 families, and the most important families affected. in ours are tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers and some vegetables, and prolongs a life cycle characterized by a rapid, up to 12 generations a year,
And he urged farmers to choose reputable companies when purchasing organic fertilizers that kill pest eggs and insects, and to use short-term pesticides to control the insect in its full stages, larva, egg and adult stage.
Damage and injury symptoms
The whitefly causes a direct loss by feeding on the leaves of the plants, perforating and absorbing the juice of the plant from the vegetative system.The feeding of the fly and the nymphs on the plant causes some physiological phenomena such as: weak growth and stunted growth of the plant. of infection are found on the surface of the leaves, causing them to wrinkle and fall due to the absorption of the juice of the plant by the fly, which reduces the ability of the plant to produce fruit and therefore a great loss of yield. If it spreads in the field, it can lead to the loss of the entire crop, its damage and damage to the crop, as well as indirect damage, such as: “the transmission of viral diseases, and the secretion of honeydew in all its phases , as this sugary substance accumulates on the surface of the leaves due to the growth of sooty fungi and the deposition of dust on them, it inhibits photosynthesis and other physiological processes.
Monitoring and control methods
The authority stressed that control is a major challenge for farmers to reduce infection. Therefore, it is necessary to take integrated preventive measures and adopt an integrated management method of the parasite to limit its spread and reduce its damage.The parasite, as soon as it enters a new suitable area, is characterized by its high capacity for rapid and widely endemicity. spread in various ways and means.
It has also been shown that the parasite’s stages can move through packaging containers, which are used more than once, and from there the infection spreads to other new locations.Chemistry as the only method of control is considered to be the biggest problem in the reducing the parasite, in order to develop resistant strains rapidly. The workshop dealt with integrated pest control at the beginning of agricultural operations, using resistant varieties, constantly eliminating weeds to reduce other hosts, harvesting and burning severely infested plants, using the crop rotation system, planting plant belts attractive or repellent, good fertilization and irrigation, and continuous monitoring of the general health of plants and their lesions.
As regards disinfestation in nurseries, the Authority underlined the need to choose an isolated nursery in clean, sterile and weed-free soil, avoiding as much as possible the establishment of the nursery in place of the previous crop in the affected soil, and prepare the soil well and sterilize it with nylon to kill pathogens, nematodes and insects that cannot be “sterilized in the sun”. a main door and an entrance door with yellow adhesive cards placed at the entrance to capture intruding insects, sterilizing the soil with the appropriate pesticides available in the proportions specified on it.
He stressed the care of using adequate spraying of organic pesticides in the early stages of the onset of the symptoms of infection, a good treatment of seedlings in the nursery gives feasible results in the prevention of the parasite and in the case of resorting to the use of pesticide chemicals want to spray pesticides with a short safety period.
Domestic soil sterilization
The authority has asked to sterilize the soil of greenhouses before planting with appropriate pesticides, in greenhouses, removing all plant residues and disposing of them in the correct way, sealing the entrances and placing protective nets on them, and that they are in the form of two doors, and the first entrance is closed, then the second entrance and all openings in the greenhouse are opened, removing and disposing of the infected plants or leaves and keeping them away from the vicinity of the plants in the greenhouse, sealing the openings from the edges and sides and using protective gauze to cover fans, entrances and rooms in the area of the cooling panels
Pest management in the open field
Regarding the integrated pest control in the open field, the authority has requested the removal of all the remains of the previous season, and of all types of weeds in the field before sowing and during the different stages of growth of the plants, the use of the crop rotation system, and the use of yellow sticky traps to monitor and control the pest, and in case of heavy infestation It is recommended to use appropriate organic pesticides, followed by chemical pesticides with a short safety period, to reduce the parasite intensity.
