In a small farming town nestled in California, a group of broccoli farmers faced a devastating challenge: an infestation of pests which are referred to as whiteflies. Whiteflies are small insects, but the harm they do to agricultural crops is enormous with considerable losses. This story, however, is not strange – whitefly pests have effects on farmers worldwide, especially those who cultivate broccoli and other green leaves vegetables. To know more about the whitefly biological control, visit Novobac.
John, an organic farmer who has been growing broccoli for more than ten years has the following to say: I realized something was wrong with the broccoli crop after eight months of planting. Finally, John said: “At first there were yellow and curling leaves. ” ‘I thought it was a nutrient problem and the next thing, the leaves were coated with this sticky secretion which was attracting ants and that was a sign of whitefly. ’
The objective of the paper Understanding Whitefly Damage on Broccoli is to familiarize the reader with the effects that whitefly have on broccoli.
Whiteflies are small insects that feed on the surface of the under leaves on plants. They discharge a slimy substance known as honeydew on which black soot-like substance called sooty mold develops on the plant leaves. It also brings some negative effects such as reducing the plant’s vigor and making a plant a bit more vulnerable to diseases. John began noticing these classic signs:
- Yellowing of leaves: One of the first signs that one can look for, this occurs due to the fact that the whiteflies feed on the plant’s nutrients.
- Sooty mold growth: The honeydew left behind by the whitefly harms the plant in the way it coats the leaves’ surface which turns black due to a soot-like substance which affects photosynthesis.
- Leaf curling and wilting: Later on the leaves of the broccoli plants grown by John began to curl and wilt indicating that the plants were actually in a state of stress brought by the infestation.
John thought there was a need for a solution, this was because many other neighboring farms were also affected forcing many people to anticipate high economic losses. ”It wasn’t only crops, time and money that was being washed away,” he said.
In search of a solution, the author turned to the use of Biological Control with the following details.
Instead of using rough hazardous chemical insecticides that may have a negative impact on the naetral insects in his organic farming business John consulted some experts at an agricultural university. One of the professors suggested the white fly management through a natural way-commonly referred to as sustainable pest management known as white fly biological control.
The expert recommended the use of Beauveria bassiana which is an endogenous fungal pathogen that naturally infects and kills the whiteflies but are environmentally friendly. Beauveria bassiana parasitises the outer integument of whitefly and ultimately leads to death of the pest. It is selective in that it goes after pests that are a nuisance, thus, not affecting helpful insects such as bees or ladybugs.
John started using Beauveria WP (best whitefly control insecticide) thus applying it in the form of a foliar spray. Now, the usage of AI should obey the correct application process to retain its efficiency in approach. John used it in the morning around 7:00 AM when the whiteflies were most versatile and made sure that he sprayed it on the underside of the leaves as well as the top side of the leaves.
Whiteflies are insects which are pests to crops and farming in general and below are sustainable practices that can be taken to possibly eradicate them.
John however, has not only proposed the use of Beauveria bassiana for whitefly control, but has also outlined other measures that need to be adopted. In addition to the above, he decided to add other cultural practices that were advised to him by experts in order to curb infestations.
- Crop rotation: Some of the measures that John adopted was crop rotation where he interchanged broccoli with other vegetables and this disrupted the breeding of the whitefly.
- Yellow sticky traps: Using these traps is helpful in capturing the adult form of whiteflies and most importantly in the assessment of the population in the fields.
- Companion planting: John surrounded his broccoli fields with marigolds as the plant has natural characteristics that give a distaste to whiteflies.
ORGANIC FARMING A success story.
After adopting these sustainable practices coupled with Beauveria bassiana whitefly control; damage caused by whitefly was reduced at John’s farm. “Well, the product helped and the result was as good as I expected it to be,” John said. ‘’There was some time it took before the parasites could be dealt with and my crops were growing again. ’’
In similar situations, there can be no better solution than to seek help from a wide range of biocontrol agents such as Beauveria bassiana and adopt better farming models. When searching for whitefly control insecticide there are features that should be taken into consideration for the insecticide to be used, this includes the following.
Let John’s story be a perfect example to support the effectiveness of biological control solutions and their use in smart farming to protect crops and achieve successfulness in the harvesting season without a negative effect on the environment.
