Abstract
Applied electrostatic engineering can be used to construct greenhouses that prevent entry of insect pests. Two types of electric field screen were used to exclude pests from the greenhouse: single- and double-charged dipolar electric field screens (S- and D-screen, respectively). The S-screen consisted of iron insulated conductor wires (ICWs) arrayed in parallel (ICW-layer), a grounded metal net on either side of the ICW-layer, and a direct current voltage generator. S-screens were attached to the side windows of the greenhouse to repel whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) that approached the nets. The D-screen was installed in a small anteroom at the greenhouse entrance to capture whiteflies entering through it. The ICW-layers of the D-screen were oppositely charged with equal voltages and arrayed alternately, and an insulator board or grounded metal net was placed on one side of the ICW-layer. The ICW-layers captured whiteflies entering the electric field of the double-charged dipolar electric field. Three screens equipped with yellow or gray boards or a grounded metal net were installed in the anteroom based on the airflow inside the room, as most whiteflies were brought in by air when the door was opened. Two D-screens with boards were useful for directing the airflow toward the wall with the netted D-screen. This screen eliminated the insects and the pest-free air was circulated inside the greenhouse. The D-screen with the yellow board attracted the whiteflies and was effective for trapping them when there was no wind. Our method kept the greenhouse pest-free throughout the entire period of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivation.
Highlights
The protection of crop plants from infection or attack by pathogens and pests using safe, environmentally benign methods has been a long-standing goal
We focused on O. neolycopersici on greenhouse tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum (Solanaceae)), which infects all commercial tomato cultivars tested (Kiss et al, 2001), and cultivars bred for resistance against a European isolate of the tomato powdery mildew pathogen (Kashimoto et al, 2003)
In Japan, B. tabaci carries Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), which is a major cause of loss of tomato crops grown in greenhouses (Ueda & Brow, 2006)
Summary
The protection of crop plants from infection or attack by pathogens and pests using safe, environmentally benign methods has been a long-standing goal. The test apparatus was conceived as a new device for capturing airborne spores of phytopathogenic fungi during crop cultivation in greenhouses (Shimizu et al, 2007) Physical methods, especially those exploiting electrostatic phenomena, can generate physical forces sufficiently strong to catch airborne fungal spores (Takikawa et al, 2014) or small flying insects that may pass through the conventional insect netting used to protect greenhouse crops (Kakutani et al, 2012a, 2017; Takikawa et al, 2016, 2019; Tanaka et al, 2008; Nonomura et al, 2012, 2014a). Structure and Function of a Double-Charged Dipolar Electric Field Screen (D-Screen)
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