Abstract
Tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is a devastating pest of tomato originating from South America which has been recorded in Ethiopia throughout tomato growing areas since 2012. The larvae damages the above ground parts of the plant especially leaf and fruits from seedling stage to maturity. Studies were conducted between 2015 and 2016 for two seasons to screen medicinal plants for the management of T. absoluta under laboratory and glasshouse conditions. Crude extracts of Phytolacca dodecandra seed and leaf, Allium sativum, Nicotiana species, Cymbopogon citrates and Azadirachta indica seed were evaluated at 5, 7.5, and 10% concentrations in the laboratory. Treatments which were found to be the best in the management of T. absoluta under laboratory condition were further evaluated for their efficacy under glass house condition. The mean percentage mortality of larva was recorded for 120 h after treatment application under laboratory study. The highest larval mortalities of 98.33, 96.67 and 95% were recorded for A. indica, C. citrates and A. sativum all at 10% concentration, respectively. In glasshouse experiment, A. indica gave the highest larval mortality of 66.54 % and the lowest percent mortality was recorded in P. dodecandra leaf and seed in both under laboratory and glasshouse conditions. With the obtained results, it can be concluded that foliar application of the mentioned medicinal plants extract on tomato plants reduced T. absoluta population and improved the quality and quantity of tomato fruit yield. Key words: Medicinal plant, Tuta absoluta, Lycopersicon esculentum, crude extracts, efficacy, concentration.
Highlights
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) belongs to the nightshade family, Solanaceae
Effect of medicinal plant crude extracts was evaluated against T. absoluta at three different concentrations (5, 7.5 and 10%) after four exposure time (24, 48, 72 and 120 h)
These results were confirmed with those reported by Ghanim and Ghani (2014); they reported that the highest reduction of T. absoluta population was obtained after tomato plants treated with A. sativum and C. citratus extract
Summary
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) belongs to the nightshade family, Solanaceae It is one of the most important vegetable crops in the world, and widely grown crops in Ethiopia (Lemma, 2002). Tomato production faces many problems from several factors which lead to significant yield loss. Among these factors, insect pests are the most important. Tuta absoluta causes a very high level of damage both in terms of quantity and quality to tomato (Garcia-Mari and Vercher, 2010; Guedes and Picanço, 2012; Megido et al, 2012), mainly if control measures are not undertaken (Desneux et al, 2010). Damage is caused by the larvae that mine leaves and bore into fruits which eventually facilitate plant pathogen invasion (EPPO, 2005). Feeding is caused by all larval stages throughout the plant growth period. The larvae can form extensive mines in the stems and tunnel into fruits, forming galleries which alter the normal growth of the plants and qualities of the fruits
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