Benefits of a maize–bean–weeds mixed cropping system in Urubamba Valley,Peruvian Andes

Abstract

In the Urubamba Valley, Peruvian Andes, we evaluated the abundance of insect pests and natural enemies in experimental plots where maize was grown either as monoculture, intercropped with beans, or intercropped with beans plus associated weeds. We also assessed the consequences of the cropping system for maize yield. The main insect pests recorded were Diabrotica spp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Carpophilus sp. (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and Pagiocerus frontalis (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), and their overall abundance did not differ among crop diversity treatments. However, there was a significant adverse effect of crop diversity on the maximum abundance of both Carpophilus and Pagiocerus. The main beneficial arthropods were Paratriphleps sp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), ladybirds and spiders, and their density did not differ among treatments. Maize yield did not decrease with increasing plant diversity. The reported benefits of intercropping, together with the associated efficiency in land use, make this traditional agricultural practice a valuable alternative to the use of pesticides, particularly for resource-poor Andean farmers.     

Multiplication kinetics of Flavescence dorée phytoplasma in broad bean. Effect of phytoplasma strain and temperature

The multiplication kinetics of the Flavescence dorée phytoplasma in broad bean after inoculation by the experimental vector Euscelidius variegatus was determined. The number of phytoplasma cells, measured by quantitative real-time PCR in the aerial parts of the plants, increased exponentially over the time. After 22 to 30 days post inoculation, when symptoms appeared, bacterial growth reached a stationary phase. Whatever the time following inoculation there were no statistical differences between numbers of phytoplasma cells in plants infected by Map-FD1 (FD-CAM05) and Map-FD2 (FD92 and FD-PEY05) genotype strains. On the contrary, temperature had an influence on Flavescence dorée phytoplasma multiplication which was nearly twice as fast in broad beans incubated at 25 °C than in broad beans incubated at 20 °C. At 25 °C, plants expressed symptoms 1 week earlier. In a context of climate change, the consequences of a global warming on the Flavescence dorée epidemics are discussed.     

Leaf Spot Disease of Broad Bean (vicia faba L.) Caused by Alternaria tenuissima— A New Disease in Japan

Farmers' fields were surveyed for a new disease on broad bean in different parts of Shimane Prefecture. The disease was found in all surveyed fields. The fungus frequently associated with diseased broad bean leaves having the characteristic leaf spot symptom was identified as Alternaria tenuissima, based on morphological characteristics. The initial lesion was brown, water soaked, circular to slightly irregular. Then the lesion enlarged and became concentric. Mature leaves had coalescing necrosis surrounded by yellowing. Older leaves of the plant were particularly affected. In a later stage of the disease, the leaves became blighted from the margin to the center and most of the diseased plants defoliated. In severely infected fields, circular to irregularly shaped lesions also appeared on stems and pods, and plants defoliated completely. All tested isolates were pathogenic to broad bean leaves. Different isolates of the fungus varied in pathogenicity on different broad bean cultivars. In a comparison of symptoms of the disease and morphological characteristics of the isolated fungus with other broad bean diseases, this disease represented a new, as yet undescribed disease of broad bean in Japan. Therefore, we propose the name "leaf spot of broad bean" and "Soramame hanten-by?" in Japanese. Received 12 April 2001/ Accepted in revised form 18 October 2001     

The profitability of maize–haricot bean intercropping techniques to control maize stem borers under low pest densities in Ethiopia

Lepidopteran stem borers are the main pests of cereals in Ethiopia. In recent years, habitat management techniques, which aim at increasing plant biodiversity through mixed cropping, have gained increased attention in stem borer control. In the present study, the profitability of mixed cropping of maize with haricot beans at different ratios and the effect on infestation of maize by stem borers, yield and borer parasitism were studied in Melkassa and Mieso, Ethiopia, in a field experiment under natural infestation. In Melkassa, pest infestations were too low for the cropping system to affect pests, plant damage and yields significantly, whereas in Mieso, where the pest densities were high, intercropping of maize with beans at ratios of 1:1 to 2:1 significantly decreased borer densities compared with pure maize stands. Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) and Cotesia flavipes. (Cameron) were the major stem borer and parasitoid species, respectively, recorded both at Melkassa and Mieso. Borer parasitism was higher at Mieso than at Melkassa and tended to increase with the increase of the haricot bean ratio in the intercropping system. Land equivalent ratios of >1 indicated higher land use efficiency in mixed compared with sole cropping, even if pest densities were low.     

Effect of eosin Y on the formation of local lesions and on the accumulation of callose in ‘Samsun NN’ tobacco and French bean leaves inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus

When leaf-halves of Samsun NN tobacco or bean plants were floated on a solution of 10–15 M eosin Y after inoculation with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and kept at 20° C, local lesion formation was markedly diminished. There was also a decrease in the size of the lesions.Depending on the temperature very strong fluorescence due to callose formation was seen around the lesions in eosin Y-treated leaf-halves of Samsun NN tobacco and bean plants. It lasted from 3–5 days after inoculation, whereas fluorescence around lesions in the water-treated control leaves disappeared within 2–3 days after inoculation.When leaf discs of Samsun tobacco, a systemic host for TMV, were floated on a solution of eosin Y after inoculation with TMV and kept at 20°C for 5 days, TMV multiplication was not prevented. Callose deposition could be detected, neither in eosin Y-treated nor in water-treated control leaves.The relation between the inhibition of local lesion formation and the accumulation of callose in eosin Y-treated leaves is discussed.Samenvatting Het is bekend dat er een verband bestaat tussen afzetting van callose en de vorming van lokale lesies bij verschillende virus-waardplantcombinaties. Tevens staat vast dat eosine ophoping van callose op zeefplaten veroorzaakt. Onderzocht werd nu of eosine Y van invloed is op de vorming van lokale lesies en tevens ophoping van callose veroorzaakt in bladeren van Samsun NN-tabak en boon, geïnoculeerd met tabaksmozaïekvirus (TMV).Het bleek dat bladhelften van tabak die, na inoculatie met TMV, bij 20°C gedreven hadden op een oplossing van 10 of 15 M eosine Y, minder en kleinere lesies hadden dan de controlehelften die op water hadden gedreven (Tabel 1; Fig. 1). Bij 25°C werden deze effecten niet waargenomen (Fig. 2). Een concentratie van 15 M veroorzaakte wat beschadiging van de bladeren (verbruining van een deel van de zijnerven).Bij bladhelften van de boon was geen beschadiging te zien bij een concentratie van 15 M. Bij bonebladeren geïnoculeerd met TMV bleek behandeling met eosine Y zowel bij 20°C als bij 25°C en zelfs bij 30°C minder en kleinere lesies tot gevolg te hebben (Tabel 2; Fig. 3 en 4).Als gezonde bladhelften van Samsun NN-planten te drijven waren gelegd op water verscheen er callose in de buurt van het wondvlak (Fig. 5). Deze ophoping van callose was sterker als de bladhelften hadden gedreven op eosine Y in concentraties van 10 of 15 M (Fig. 6). In de zijnerven, die als gevolg van de behandeling met 15 M bruin waren geworden, was eveneens een sterke fluorescentie als gevolg van de aanwezigheid van callose te zien (Fig. 7 en 8).Als bladhelften van Samsun NN-planten na inoculatie met TMV te drijven waren gelegd op oplossingen van 10 of 15 M bij een temperatuur van 20°C bleek er niet alleen een reductie in aantal en afmeting van de lesies opgetreden te zijn, maar ook sterke fluorescentie als gevolg van aanzienlijke callose-afzettingen rondom de in hun uitbreiding geremde lesies (Fig. 9). De sterke fluorescentie verdween zelfs niet 3–5 dagen na inoculatie, hoewel bij bladeren die op water hadden gedreven dit al na 2–3 dagen het geval was (Fig. 10). Hadden de bladhelften na inoculatie echter bij 25°C op eosine Y gedreven dan was de fluorescentie rondom de lesies dezelfde als in de bladhelften die op water hadden gedreven.Bij bladhelften van gezonde bonen was niet veel ophoping van wondcallose waarneembaar en evenmin stimuleerde eosine Y de vorming ervan. Wel bracht deze stof een ophoping van callose teweeg op de zeefplaten van bladnerven (Fig. 11). Eveneens was er in de met eosine Y behandelde bladhelften fluorescentie in delen van de zijnerven (Fig. 12).Bij bonebladeren die waren geïnoculeerd met TMV was een sterke afzetting van callose te zien rondom de lesies die zich niet meer uitbreidden als gevolg van behandeling met eosine Y bij temperaturen tussen 20°C en 30°C (Fig. 13). In de controlehelften die op water hadden gedreven verdween de fluorescentie binnen 2 dagen na inoculatie (Fig. 14).Hadden bladschijfjes van Samsun-tabak na inoculatie met TMV gedreven op een oplossing van eosine Y dan bleek de virusvermeerdering in deze schijfjes niet geremd te zijn (Tabel 3).We kunnen concluderen dat er een correlatie bestaat tussen de hoeveelheid afgezette callose in de bladeren en de uiteindelijke grootte van de lokale lesies. De vraag blijft echter nog wel bestaan of callose-afzetting inderdaad de verspreiding van virus naar naburige cellen verhindert.