Effect of Humic Acid and Henna Extract Lawsonia inermis on Dubas Bug Ommatissus binotatus on Date Palm Trees in the South of Iraq

Abstract

Al-Saedi, G.F. 2023. Effect of Humic Acid and Henna Extract Lawsonia inermis on Dubas Bug Ommatissus binotatus on Date Palm Trees in the South of Iraq. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 41(1): 58-64. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-41.1.058064 Date palm is infected by many harmful insect pests, which lead to significant economic losses, among these pests is the dubas bug, Ommatissus binotatus (De Berg). This study was conducted to determine the effect of adding humic acid to NPK fertilizer and the use of henna extract Lawsonia inermis to reduce the effect of dubas bug on date palm trees. The spring insect infestation began at the beginning of March and reached its peak during April of 30.50% insect/leaf of untreated trees, 25% for trees treated with humic acid and henna extract, and 27.30% for trees treated with henna extract only. As for its autumn activity, it started at the beginning of October, and the peak infestation reached 25.60% for untreated trees, 18.70% for trees treated with humic acid and henna extract, and 20.60% for trees treated with henna extract only. The results also showed that trees treated with humic acid and henna extract were less infested with dubas bug, reaching 5.52%, with a significant difference from untreated trees, which amounted to 7.88%. The results also showed that treating infested leaves with dubas bug with humic acid increased the leaf content of total chlorophyll, wax and phenolic compounds compared with untreated leaves infested with dubas bug. Keywords: Dubas bug, humic acid, Lawsonia inermis, date palm, phenolic substances