Journal of Economic Entomology (2015) 108, 1748-1756

Elissa M. Chasen, Dan J. Undersander and Eileen M. Cullen (2015)
Revisiting the economic injury level and economic threshold model for potato leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in alfalfa
Journal of Economic Entomology 108 (4), 1748-1756
Abstract: The economic injury level for potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris), in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) was developed over 30 yr ago. In response to increasing market value of alfalfa, farmers and consultants are interested in reducing the economic threshold for potato leafhopper in alfalfa. To address this question, caged field trials were established on two consecutive potato leafhopper susceptible crops in 2013. Field cages were infested with a range of potato leafhopper densities to create a linear regression of alfalfa yield response. The slopes, or yield loss per insect, for the linear regressions of both trials were used to calculate an economic injury level for a range of current alfalfa market values and control costs. This yield–loss relationship is the first quantification that could be used to help assess whether the economic threshold should be lowered, given the increased market value of alfalfa.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Elissa M. Chasen, Eileen M. Cullen

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
damage/losses/economics
thresholds/decision-support systems

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Empoasca fabae	Alfalfa/lucerne (Medicago sativa)