Evaluation of cultural practices to control Thrips palmi   (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on green pepper

SALAS J. 2004. Evaluation of cultural practices to control Thrips palmi (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on green pepper. Entomotropica 19(1):39-46. Cucumber, Cucumis sativus L., and black bean Phaseolus vulgaris L., as trap crops; silver colored plastic and rice husks as soil cover and associations of green pepper with cucumber and black beans, were evaluated as cultural practices to control Thrips palmi Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in experimental plots of green pepper, Capsicum annum L. Seven treatments, each with four replicates were used in a random block design. Green pepper associated to black bean resulted in lowest mean numbers of larvae and adults per green pepper leaf (0.48 and 0.25), followed by rice husks as soil cover (0.55 and 0.29), silver colored plastic soil cover (0.71 and 0.29) and green pepper associated to cucumber (0.79 and 0.22), without significant differences (p>0.05) between them, but differences between them and the remaining three treatments were significant. Cucumber as trap crop registered the highest number of larvae and adults per green pepper leaf (12.06 and 9.15), being significantly different from black bean as trap crop (6.60 and 4.48) and control (5.70 and 3.22), which were no significant between them. The same treatments as above, gave low and high counts of larvae and adults per flower and the same statistics significance. Silver colored plastic cover gave the highest yield in kilograms per hectare (14 236), followed by rice husks as soil cover (12 708), green pepper associated to black bean (11 153) and green pepper associated to black bean (9 902), without significant differences between them, but were significant from control treatment. The use of cucumber and black bean as trap crops, or silver colored plastic and rice husks as a soil cover, are viable and low cost methods, very convenient for small farmers to control Thrips palmi on green pepper and obtain acceptable yields