Effect of physical barriers on sweet potato weevil control

S.M.A. Crossman, C.D. Collingwood and M.C. Palada

No 258875, 29th Annual Meeting, 1993, Martinique from Caribbean Food Crops Society

Abstract: Two studies were conducted to determine the effect of physical barriers (black plastic, weed barrier and grass mulch) and a bare soil treatment on sweet potato weevil (SPW) infestation of "Viola" and "Sunny" sweet potato cultivars. Harvested roots were individually inspected and rated on a SPW damage index (DI) of 1-6 ( I - no damage, 6 - most severe damage). A mean damage index (MDI) was also calculated. All medium-sized storage roots with a DI rating _ 2 were considered as marketable yield. The yield of medium-sized roots for the "Sunny" cultivar was significantly higher under plastic mulch than on bare soil. The grass mulch treatment produced a higher percentage of storage roots rated DI-1 than plots with synthetic mulches (plastic or weed barrier). The grass mulch treatment also produced a higher percentage of medium-sized marketable roots than the weed barrier treatment. Sweet potatoes from the weed barrier plots had a higher MDI than those in the grass mulch plots. In the "Viola" study, the grass mulch treatment produced the highest total and marketable yields. The weed barrier treatment had a higher MDI, a lower percentage of roots rated DI-1 and a higher percentage of roots rated DI-6 than all the other treatments. These trials have demonstrated that grass mulch has more potential than weed barrier for controlling SPW.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 11
Date: 1993-07-01
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:cfcs93:258875

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.258875

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