Pest Management Science (2017) 73, 2345-2352

Carlos H.O. Lima, Renato A. Sarmento, Poliana S. Pereira, Tarcísio V.S. Galdino, Fábio A. Santos, Joedna Silva and Marcelo C. Picanço (2017)
Feasible sampling plan for Bemisia tabaci control decision-making in watermelon fields
Pest Management Science 73 (11), 2345-2352
Abstract:
BACKGROUND
The silverleaf whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most important pests of watermelon fields worldwide. Conventional sampling plans are the starting point for the generation of decision-making systems of integrated pest management programs. The aim of this study was to determine a conventional sampling plan for B. tabaci in watermelon fields.
RESULTS
The optimal leaf for B. tabaci adult sampling was the 6^th most apical leaf. Direct counting was the best pest sampling technique. Crop pest densities fitted the negative binomial distribution and had a common aggregation parameter (K_common). The sampling plan consisted of evaluating 103 samples per plot. This sampling plan was conducted for 56 min, costing US$ 2.22 per sampling and with a 10% maximum evaluation error.
CONCLUSIONS
The sampling plan determined in this study can be adopted by farmers because it enables the adequate evaluation of B. tabaci populations in watermelon fields (10% maximum evaluation error) and is a low-cost (US$ 2.22 per sampling), fast (56 min per sampling) and feasible (because it may be used in a standardized way throughout the crop cycle) technique.
(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): Renato Almeida Sarmento, Marcelo Coutinho Picanco

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bemisia tabaci	Watermelon/colocynth (Citrullus)