Comparison of agroecological and conventional on management of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) infesting cucurbit crops in Morogoro, Tanzania
Background: Tanzania has experienced large losses due to fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) with increased incidence since 2004. However, there is limited information on vegetables flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) mainly Zeugodacus cucurbitae, Dacus ciliatus, D. frontalis, D. vertebratus, D. punctatifrons and D. bivittatus coexisting in cucurbit crops growing areas when subjected to different management practices. Methodology: We compared the efficacy of selected agroecological and conventional practices on fruit fly management in cucurbit crops (Cucumis sativus, Cucumis maxima and Citrallus lanatus) under field condition across plateau (350-630 masl) and Mountainous (700-1400 masl) zones in Morogoro, Tanzania. A factorial experiment (2 × 3× 3) arranged in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five replications was set up. The treatments consisted of agroecological crop protection, conventional crop protection and control (no management). Agroecological practice included organic mulching, organic fertilizers, maize as trap crop, application of success bait (GF120) and augmentaria while conventional practices included industrial fertilizers, synthetic fungicides and insecticides. The experiment was conducted during the cropping season in 2020 (October-January) and 2021 (February- July). Data collection and sampling consisted of field observation on 45 plants randomly selected in half acre fields (2025 m²). Information was collected on male and female flowering, number of fruits sets, number of fruits damaged during development, maturity, harvest and weight of marketable and non-marketable fruits. The data were collected from three plots that received different treatments and later on the data were transformed into percentage and subjected to a three-way analysis of variance. Significance of the main effect was tested with the post-hoc Tukey's-HSD test at a threshold of (p<0.05) using GenStat Discovery. Results: This study showed the presence of: Z. cucurbitae, D. vertebratus, D. ciliatus, D. frontalis, D. bivittatus and D. punctatifrons. Further results revealed a significant difference in fruit damage percentage among the different crops and among the different management practices. The highest fruit damage percentage was observed in cucurbit crops that received no control practices (83.28%) followed by agroecological practices (56.02%) and conventional practices (41.98%). The most susceptible cucurbit crops were C. lanatus with 66.37% fruit damage while C. maxima (56.83%) and C. sativus (58.08%) were not significantly different. Fruit damage was higher in plots at plateau zone compared to mountainous zone. Conclusion: Conventional management practices have a significant reduction in fruit damage. However, they may result in many adverse conditions, in particularly the loss of biodiversity of different life forms such as pollinators in cucurbit crop productions. Costs of conventional management should also be taken into consideration. Damage percentage may have an impact on the specific crop grown in particular areas.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | conference_item biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
NSW
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| Online Access: | http://agritrop.cirad.fr/602996/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/602996/2/Bwire_Comparison%20ofAgroecologicalAndConventional%20.pdf |
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