ISHS Acta Horticulturae 633: XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Protected Cultivation 2002: In Search of Structures, Systems and Plant Materials for Sustainable Greenhouse Production
TOMATO YELLOW LEAF CURL DISEASE CONTROL WITH UV-BLOCKING PLASTIC COVERS IN COMMERCIAL PLASTICHOUSES OF SOUTHERN SPAIN |
| Authors: | F. Monci, S. García-Andrés, F. Sánchez, E. Moriones, E. Espí, A. Salmerón |
| Keywords: | Bemisia tabaci, whitefly, Frankliniella occidentalis, thrips, pest management, ultraviolet light |
| Abstract:
The yellow leaf curl disease of tomato (TYLCD) is the main limiting factor to production of tomato in the south of Spain. The causing agents of this disease are a complex of virus species of the genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae) that in nature are transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Two species have been reported in Spain, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV). Control of TYLCD in protected crops of southern Spain is difficult during the warm season (June to November) because of the high disease pressure present under the low technology plastic houses normally used. After more than 50 years of research, only tomato cultivars partially resistant to TYLCD are commercially available which do not completely satisfy market demands in Spain. In addition, the low effectiveness of the insecticides used to control the insect vector to levels in which TYLCD incidence is reduced, makes necessary the search for alternative strategies for the control of this disease. The use of photo-selective plastic covers blocking ultraviolet light (UV) has been proposed as a good method for TYLCD control due to the interference with B. tabaci vision that results in reductions of TYLCD incidence higher than 50%. However, no data are available on the effectiveness of this control strategy in the low technology plastic houses typical of southern Spain ("parral" type) in which large lateral windows are completely open most of the time. Several field trials were performed during the 1999/2000 and 2001/2002 agricultural seasons in commercial plastic houses of Malaga (southern Spain). In each trial, tomato crops grown under plastic houses covered with standard UV-transparent film or with a photo-selective UV-blocking plastic film developed by Repsol YPF were monitored. Our results showed a clear reduction of the levels of B. tabaci population numbers as well as of the incidence of TYLCD under the cover that filtered UV light. This resulted in a significant yield increase of tomato crops under photo-selective UV-blocking plastic film cover. | |
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