Effects of season, sowing date, nitrogenous fertilizer and insecticide spraying on the incidence of insect pests on cotton in the Sudan Gezira

Abstract

SUMMARYThe effects of the sowing date of cotton and application of nitrogenous fertilizer to it on the incidence of insect pests were investigated over a 5-year period. Response to frequent insecticide spraying was also determined and the results were related to previously reported interactions between nitrogen, sowing date and insecticide application in their effects on yield and its year-to-year variation. Numbers of jassids (Empoasca lybica de Berg) and whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci Genn) were considerably greater on the fertilized plots. The pattern of pest population change over the season varied with sowing date and also from year to year as did the relative numbers of jassids and whiteflies. Effects of spraying on the yield obtained under different agronomic treatments and in different years were clearly related to effects on numbers of insect pests.