Pesticide-free plasticulture for sustainable vegetable production in the context of climate change Kumar Prabhat* Agricultural Systems and Engineering, School of Environment, Resources, and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, PO Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani-12120, Thailand *Corresponding author: pkipm@yahoo.com
Online published on 4 December, 2019. Abstract Among plethora of insect-pests and diseases, sucking pests and related plant viruses are number one cause of concern for majority of farmers raising crops either in field or inside net/poly/greenhouse (GH) or tunnels. To explore the possibility of “zero-pesticide’ plasticulture in the tropical areas, studies were conducted to investigate the effect of ultraviolet (UV) blocked greenhouses made from combination of net and plastics on the immigration of thrips (Ceratothripoides claratris) and occurrences of capsicum cholorosis virus (CaCV-AIT) as a model. Using UV-blocking nets and plastics, to allow ventilation – a pre-requisite for tropical greenhouses, various levels of ambient UV intensity were achieved under test greenhouses and followed so that immigration of the model pests and occurrences of virus were observed. Significantly fewer thrips immigrated under GH with lower UV intensity and consequently caused lower levels of leaf damage clearly indicating crucial role of UV in flight and forging behaviour of thrips. During open gates experiments, a total of 96–100% virus infestation was recorded under non UV-blocking greenhouses compared to 6–10% under UV-blocking greenhouses, having majority of the virus infected plants tested positive for the tospovirus, CaCV-AIT. The virus spreads were remarkably delayed for several days under greenhouses with lower UV light. These results suggests that greenhouses made from the combination of the UV-blocking nets and plastics have a significant influence on both the immigration and virus spread vectored by thrips. The results are discussed in context of pesticide free management of other sucking pests and virus spread in tomatoes under plasticulture in the context of climate change. Top Keywords Ceratothripoides claratris, tospovirus, UV-blocking nets and plastic films, plasticulture. Top |