Abstract
One of the most devastating pests of chili pepper is the sweet potato whitefly (SPW), Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). It sucks plant sap, emits honeydew on which sooty mold fungi grow, and transmits the pepper yellow leaf curl Indonesia virus (PepYLCIV), the most damaging viral disease of chili in Indonesia. Farmers rely mainly on insecticide to control the insect with two to three sprays in a week. To reduce the insecticide use, an integrated approach needs to be developed. Therefore, the current study evaluated the effectiveness of the integration of reflective mulch, host plant resistance, and insecticide use for managing the sweet potato whitefly on the chili pepper. In 2018, a complete randomized block design was used in three separate trials to assess the effects of mulch, cultivar, or insecticide application frequency on the numbers of whitefly eggs, nymphs, and adults. In 2019, a split-split plot design was used to evaluate the effects of the integration of mulch, cultivar, and insecticide application frequency on the numbers of whitefly eggs, nymphs, and adults. The results showed that the reflective silver mulch had significantly lower numbers of whitefly eggs, nymphs, and adults, in comparison to the rice straw mulch and bare ground treatments. Chili plants cv. Bara was more resistant than Bhaskara against B. tabaci in the field; however, in the no-choice trial, no significant difference was detected between both cultivars. Insecticide applications twice per week and once per week were equally effective in controlling the whitefly on the susceptible cultivar (Bhaskara). Overall, the integration of reflective mulch, resistant cultivar, and insecticide application every two weeks effectively suppressed B. tabaci populations on the chili pepper. This approach could substantially reduce the number of insecticide applications from twice per week (commonly practiced by chili farmers in the area) to one application only in two weeks.
Highlights
Chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) is an important horticultural crop worldwide with high nutritional content.e plant has high economic values [1]; many smallholder farmers in Indonesia depend on this crop for their welfare
Field and Greenhouse Experiments, 2018. ere were significant differences among the mulch treatments in the numbers of eggs, nymphs, and adults (F 3.57, p < 0.05; F 5.18, p < 0.05, and F 14.50, p < 0.01, respectively; Table 1). e lowest numbers of eggs, nymphs, and adults were found in the reflective mulch, which were significantly lower than those in the bare ground and rice straw mulch
The highest numbers of the three variables were found in the rice straw mulch treatment, which were significantly higher than the bare ground
Summary
Chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) is an important horticultural crop worldwide with high nutritional content.e plant has high economic values [1]; many smallholder farmers in Indonesia depend on this crop for their welfare. E whitefly can inflict direct damage to chili plants by sucking the plant sap when feeding, causing distorted young leaves and silver chlorotic spots on the leaves. Besides that, it indirectly damages plants by emitting honeydew on the leaf surface on which sooty mold fungi grow producing black film covering the leaf surface that reduces the efficiency. Scientifica of photosynthesis [3, 4] Another important indirect damage caused by the whitefly on chili pepper is the transmission of viral diseases on the crop, including the pepper yellow leaf curl Indonesia virus (PepYLCIV, Geminiviridae) [5], the most devastating viral disease on chili in Indonesia that can cause total yield loss to plants [6, 7]. An integrated approach should be developed to control the SPW on chili pepper, by incorporating different control measures
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
