Study

Evaluation of crop rotation for control of Colorado potato beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in commercial potato fields on Long Island

  • Published source details Wright R.J. (1984) Evaluation of crop rotation for control of Colorado potato beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in commercial potato fields on Long Island. Journal of Economic Entomology, 77, 1254-1259.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Use crop rotation in potato farming systems

Action Link
Natural Pest Control
  1. Use crop rotation in potato farming systems

    A paired sites study in 1982-1983 on Long Island, New York, USA (Wright 1984) found that on five of seven pairs of sites, density of early season adult Colorado potato beetles Leptinotarsa decemlineata (pest) was reduced by 95.8% in 1982 and by 69.5% in 1983 in fields that were rotated to rye Secale cereale in the previous year, compared to fields that had been planted with potatoes Solanum tuberosum for two consecutive years. In the other two pairs of sites, potato beetle numbers were low in both rotated and non-rotated fields. Under an integrated pest management scheme, non-rotated fields required an average of one additional insecticide spray over the growing season, and in three pairs of fields crop damage was significantly lower in the rotated field. The experiment used pairs of rotated and non-rotated fields on four farms in 1982 and five in 1983. Fields averaged 8 ha in size and were up to 2 km apart. Colorado potato beetle densities were monitored weekly from late May. Densities were estimated by counting beetles on 80 potato stalks in 1982 and 50 stalks in 1983.

     

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