Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut 71511, Egypt.
2
Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
3
Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
Abstract
Cabbage plantations suffer greatly from infestations of the small white butterfly (Pieris rapae), resulting in substantial financial harm to growers. Therefore, a comparative field study in Assiut, Upper Egypt, assessed various control strategies for Pieris rapae infestation on cabbage, focusing on the potential of the biological control agent Trichogramma evanescens “Westwood” against chemical and safe alternative compounds. Results assessed the reduction in infested cabbage plants at 5, 10, and 15 days after applying one chemical and three safe alternatives. Malathion 57% demonstrated the highest efficacy, reducing infested plants by 62.96% after 15 days. Naterlo oil, KZ oil, and Ashock showed reductions of 27.37%, 26.96%, and 18.31%, respectively. In parallel, T. evanescens releases proved effective, lowering infestation by 41.69% (2 releases), 44.58% (3 releases), and 50.84% (4 releases). Critically, four releases of T. evanescens proved more effective than any biologically safe alternative compounds. These findings strongly advocate using four releases of T. evanescens as a new, effective, and environmentally friendly biological control tactic for P. rapae management in cabbage cultivation, providing a required alternative to traditional chemical insecticides.
Keywords
)
View on SCiNiTO