EFFECTS OF ACUTE SIMULATED AND ACUTE GRASSHOPPER (ORTHOPTERA: ACRIDIDAE) DAMAGE ON GROWTH RATES AND YIELD OF SPRING WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM)

Abstract

AbstractStudies showed that the type of damage, the timing of damage with the phenological stage of the crop, and the amount of available soil moisture influenced the growth response of spring wheat to acute levels of grasshopper damage and acute levels of artificial damage. Ground-level cutting of plants resulted in the greatest reduction in plant biomass and crop yield, while grasshopper damage and artificial stripping of leaf material did not result in as severe a reduction in either biomass or yield.Damaged plants were not able to recover lost biomass when damage occurred any later than the early stages of tillering despite observed relative growth rates which were higher than control plants. The greatest degree of recovery occurred in study sites with the greatest amount of available soil moisture.The most detrimental effect of damage on yield was the reduction of heads per plant and kernel weight. In most cases differences in the number of seeds per head between damaged and control plants were not evident.