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Plant species diversity and crop pest control. An analytical review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

C. W. Baliddawa
C. W. Baliddawa
Affiliation:
Department of Crop Science, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda
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Abstract

This paper reviews and analyses literature on the effect of plant species diversity on crop pests. It is observed that populations of several crop insect pest species are depressed under conditions of plant species diversity. The factors responsible for this depression are: parasites, predators, masking, camouflage, repellency, less colonization, resource concentration, unfavourable microclimate, physical obstraction and trap cropping. Natural enemies account for more than half of the cases where the pest population was claimed to be regulated in the weed-diversity systems. However, under conditions of crop–crop diversity, natural enemy action accounted for less than a third of the cases reviewed. It is further observed that most of the reviewed crop–crop diversity systems were of annual crops. It is therefore concluded that under conditions of annual cropping natural enemies are probably of lesser importance than other regulating factors.

Résumé

Le présent article analyse la littérature sur l'effet de la diversification des espèces de plantes comme moyen de lutte contre l'effet nocif des insectes. On observe que la population de plusieurs insectes nocifs aux cultures est réduite lorsqu'il y a diversification des espèces de plantes. Les facteurs qui déterminent cette réduction sont: les parasites, les rapaces, le camouflage, la repulsion, la colonisation reduite, la concentration des resources, un microclimat défavorable, encombrement et cultures pièges. Les ennemis naturels représentent plus de la moitié des cas où la population des insectes était censée être sous contrôle dans les systèmes de diversification des mauvaises herbes. Cependent, dans les conditions de diversification culture–culture, l'action de l'ennemi naturel ne representait que moins d'un tiers des cas étudiés. Il est aussi à observer que la plupart des systèmes de diversification culture-culture étudiés étaient des systèmes de cultures annuelles. On doit donc conclure que dans des conditions de récoltes annuelles, les ennemis naturels'sont peut-être d'une importance moindre que en cas de contrôle par d'autres facteurs.

Keywords

Plant species diversitycrop border diversitywithin field diversitycrop–crop diversity and weed–crop diversityLa diverification des espèces de plantesdiversité des culturesdiversification culture–culture et diversification mauvaises herbes–culture

Information

Type
Mini-Review Article
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , August 1985 , pp. 479 - 487
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1985

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References

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