False codling (Thaumatotibia leucotreta) is a Small moth (6-9 mm long) which is active at dusk and during the night. It is a significant pest because of its potential economic impact on many crops, including stone fruit, avocado, citrus, corn, cotton and macadamia.
Root architecture, with its shape and structured development, is vital to a crop’s success. Shoot growth, quality and yield all depend on the development of a strong plant with a large, healthy root system that helps you get the most out of your fertilizer program.
A well developed root network encourages beneficial interactions with micro ‐ organisms that allows soil exploration, resource acquisition and maintenance of crop performance even under stress caused by disease and limited soil water and nutrient conditions.
The beneficial micro-organisms in this network effectively reduce root rots and increase the solubility of phosphates and micronutrients such as zinc, copper, iron and manganese thus enhancing growth of the roots and the above ground parts of the plant.
Improvement in agricultural sustainability requires an integrated water, crop, pest and disease management strategy, managing soil fertility and soil physical properties by promoting soil biodiversity and soil biological processes offers the potential for using rhizosphere processes to improve soil quality and productivity.
In many soils, nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium and iron are present in large amounts but in forms that are not available to plants. Many bacteria and fungi are able to make these nutrients available to plants by secreting organic acids or other chemicals (siderophores) to dissolve the minerals. These beneficial micro-organisms are naturally occurring and are prolific and readily available in natural, undisturbed, rich, fertile lands.
The use of these micro-organisms results in high quality crop yields often demonstrated in both size and volume of produce. This increase in yield and quality has been demonstrated in a wide range of plants even during times of stress. Increasing yield while improving quality attributes, such as firmness, colour, size and crop uniformity, gives you the competitive edge and increased profits which are key pillars of sustainable agriculture.
Nematodes are tiny, round-bodied, unsegmented, worms. Plant parasitic nematodes cause economic losses to horticultural and field crop worldwide. With serious concerns about the use of nematicide in terms of food safety and environmental quality issue.
Bacterial soft rots are caused by several types of bacteria and a destructive on vegetables and herbs.
Many land snails and slugs are pests in landscapes, vegetable gardens and greenhouses when they feed on plants. They feed directly on foliage and fruit which is the main concern and damage from these molluscs can be severe. Their preference for succulent foliage makes them serious pests of seedlings, herbaceous plants, and fruit ripening close to the ground, e.g., tomatoes and strawberries. The most destructive snails and slugs are often introduced exotic species.
Both slugs and snails have fleshy, soft, slimy legless bodies that range in color from whitish-yellow to black; most are mottled with shades of gray. Their eyes are carried on the ends of stalks or appendages on the head. Snails and slugs have similar bodies and both are protected by the mucus that they secrete. Snails have a hard spiral shell on their backs while slugs lack external shells completely .Snail shells provide protection from predators and during periods of excessive heat and dryness.
Damping-off frequently attacks young seedlings of almost all kinds of vegetables and herbs. Just after seedlings have emerged from the soil, they are easily killed by fungus organisms likely to be present vegetable field. Seedlings that die or fall over are said to “damp-off”. Seedlings may also die before emergence, referred to as pre-emergence damping-off. The pathogen has increase in importance in years.
Adult Sciarid flies are slender, approximately 2.5 mm in length, and have long legs and antennae. They are weak fliers but can run quite rapidly across the soil surface. Their wings are clear or smokey-colored with no pattern and few distinct veins. However, the females of several species are wingless. They have shiny black head capsules.
These fungi will show up in different ways and all are species of some of the common root rots. The host range of these fungi is very wide as it affects a range of woody shrubs and perennials. The fungus occurs naturally in the temperate and tropical regions. These soil borne fungi infects roots of plants, move up the stems resulting into diebacks, yellowing of foliage, poor plant vigor and darkening of larger roots.
Damping-off frequently attacks young seedlings of almost all kinds of vegetables and herbs. Just after seedlings have emerged from the soil, they are easily killed by fungus organisms likely to be present vegetable field. Seedlings that die or fall over are said to “damp-off”. Seedlings may also die before emergence, referred to as pre-emergence damping-off. The pathogen has increase in importance in years.
This disease is caused by a fungus that attacks the plant and forms a white powdery spore on new tender growth then spreads out into other plant parts. The pathogen is usually favoured by warm, dry days and cooler, damp nights. The new leaves may become curled or twisted and the shoots may look badly deformed. In some varieties, the upper surface of the leaf may appear normal but the underside has extensive fungus growth.
Damping-off frequently attacks young seedlings of almost all kinds of vegetables and herbs. Just after seedlings have emerged from the soil, they are easily killed by fungus organisms likely to be present vegetable field. Seedlings that die or fall over are said to “damp-off”. Seedlings may also die before emergence, referred to as pre-emergence damping-off. The pathogen has increase in importance in years.
A major disease of foliar of vegetables and herbs and is particular severe in tropical environment. The initial symptoms are found on the top surface of leaves and consist of small pale green to greasy looking angular or rectangular spots that are delimited by leaf vein. During moist weather the corresponding lower leaf surface is covered with downy, pale gray to purple fungal mycelium and spores.
Cyclamen mites are tiny arachnids that are oval, translucent white to yellow-green in colour and are 0.25mm in size with six legs for the first nymph and eight legs for the remaining stages. They are very difficult to identify until severe damages occur. Cyclamen mites are mostly found on the base of the plant or near the buds. They prefer darkened humid areas of immature leaves and buds in growing tips.
Whiteflies derive their name from the powdery white wax covering the adult’s wings and body. Adults are tiny (less than 2mm long) insects with yellowish bodies and whitish wings. They usually occur in groups on the undersides of leaves. The most common species in horticultural farming is the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum.
Mealybugs occur in two different forms depending on their sex: female adults are wingless soft, oval, flat-bodied insects covered with a white, powdery wax (hence the name ‘mealy bug’), while males are winged wasp-like flying insects as adults. The most common species in the greenhouse is the citrus mealybug, Planococcus citri.
Red spider mites (RSM, Tetrachys urticae) also known as Two-Spotted mites, are tiny arachnids establish on crop plants, causing characteristic damage to leaves. Adults and juveniles feed on the underside of leaves, sucking out the cell contents resulting in chlorotic spots on the upper leaf surface. The mites measuring about 0.5mm long with an oval-shaped body that varies in colour from greenish-yellow, to virtually transparent, brown, and red-orange with two dark spots visible on either side of the abdomen. The life cycle involves five developmental stages: egg, larva, two nymphal stages, and adult. Immatures resemble adults (except they are much smaller and lighter in colour), and the newly hatched larvae have only six legs.
Red spider mites are known to rapidly develop resistance to chemical controls. Using IPM is crucial for the effective management of RSM on crops.
A fungal disease which attacks cankered stems and flowers. The fungus grows into a gray brown fuzz mycelium that causes the flower petals to turn brown and shrivel. The predisposing factors are cooler and moist weather conditions. This can be accelerated by weakened plant tissues. Stressed plants are highly susceptible to the disease pathogens.
Adult thrips are tiny (1-2mm long) slender insects with fringed wings. Immatures are similarly shaped with a long, narrow abdomen but lack wings. Most thrips range in colour from translucent white or yellowish to dark brown or blackish, depending on the species and life stage.
Aphids have soft pear-shaped bodies measuring 1.5-4mm in length with long legs and antennae, their colour ranges from green, yellow, brown, red, to black depending on the species. They occur in clusters around the young terminal shoots or under the leaves.