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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <london AT metalab.unc.edu>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Hairy Vetch Thwarts Colorado Potato Beetle (fwd)
  • Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 18:25:19 -0400 (EDT)


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:43:16 -0400
From: ARS News Service <isnv AT ars-grin.gov>
To: ARS News List <ars-news AT ars-grin.gov>
Subject: Hairy Vetch Thwarts Colorado Potato Beetle

STORY LEAD:
Hairy Vetch Thwarts Colorado Potato Beetle

___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Sharon Durham, (301) 504-1611, sdurham AT asrr.arsusda.gov
April 13, 2000
___________________________________________


Colorado potato beetles are deceptively beautiful insects, with five shiny
black stripes on a yellow background decorating each wing. But this beetle
is notorious for its destructive power. Each year, the Colorado potato
beetle and its larvae ravage potato, eggplant and tomato plants.

This pest is also notorious for something else: its ability to develop
resistance to insecticides. Because of this, biocontrol becomes a viable
option. Biocontrol--the use of one natural organism to control another
without chemicals--has an important place in farming systems, including
organic farming.

Agricultural Research Service entomologist Kevin Thorpe and collaborators at
the University of Maryland have found that an organic mulch made from a
cover crop called hairy vetch can reduce Colorado potato beetle damage. They
utilized the method developed by ARS plant physiologists Aref Abdul-Baki and
John Teasdale, in which hairy vetch is planted in the fall and mowed in the
spring before transplanting. The vetch impeded the movement of the beetles,
thereby lessening their damage. The vetch, a legume, also added nitrogen to
the soil.

In the study, fewer beetles infested tomatoes transplanted into hairy vetch
mulch, compared to tomatoes transplanted into black plastic mulch. Yields of
staked, fresh-market tomatoes grown in the vetch mulch were comparable to
tomatoes treated with insecticides.

The Colorado potato beetle costs U.S. potato, tomato and eggplant growers
about $150 million annually in losses and insecticide-related costs. Many
growers are using imadacloprid, a new systemic insecticide that provides
excellent control. However, unless appropriate measures are taken,
resistance will develop. Non-insecticidal methods of control could be useful
components of a sustainable, integrated pest management strategy if they can
reduce pesticide inputs and slow the rate of resistance.

Thorpe's next step is investigating the use of organic mulches in larger
fields of staked fresh-market tomatoes grown on a commercial scale. This
study was undertaken as part of the Sustainable Agriculture program at the
Beltsville (Md.) Agricultural Research Center.

----------
Scientific contact: Kevin Thorpe, ARS Insect Biocontrol Laboratory,
Beltsville, Md., phone (301) 504-5139, fax (301) 504-5689,
thorpe AT asrr.arsusda.gov.
----------
This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv AT ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax 504-1648.






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