Exploitation of Selected Plant Based Insecticides for Field Management and Control of Aphids in Organic Cabbage Production

Large colonies of cabbage aphids are capable of stunting and or killing small plants. They are also capable of contaminating harvested crop. The use of biodegradable botanicals for pest control is now considered one of the best alternatives to synthetic pesticides; and they are known to be safer and ecological friendly. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of three plant based extracts and their mixtures for their efficiency in the control of aphids in a cabbage field. Extracts from Azadirachta indica, Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium, Quassia amara, their mixtures and a positive and negative control were used. Two field studies were carried out at different periods (spring and late summer studies). Decline in aphid infestation was determined by recording number of infested plants per plot and the average number of aphids per plant; before and after each treatment application. All extracts and their mixtures decreased aphid population significantly (p<0.001) in both seasons. A mean pest population decline of 86.78% and 85.48% for number of aphids/plant was recorded in the spring and late summer study respectively; and an 86.00% and 85.48% decline in number of plants infested for the spring and late summer study respectively. Decline in infestation produced by all extracts was comparable to that of the synthetic insecticide used for the study. Keywords: Cabbage, Organic pest control, Bio-pesticide, Azadirachtin, Pyrethrin, Quassin, Plant extracts.

Pomological evaluation of peach and nectarine varieties promising from commercial growing point of view

According FAO data, peach production in Czech Republic has been very low, for the past two decades averages production has been around 2000 tonnes; whilst consumption for the same period keeps growing; like in the case of most fruit. To be able to bridge the gap between production and consumption, and of course to also increase the income of the local producers, this research was carried out to evaluate some selected peach and nectarine cultivars on the Experimental Orchard (Lednice, south Moravia, Czech republic) of the Faculty of Horticulture of The Mendel University, in 2013, to select and recommend cultivars that will suit and boost productivity of the local growers in Czech Republic. 36 cultivars and 24 parameters were evaluated. Traits and parameters for evaluation were chosen according to the Peach Descriptors for Variability (Nitransky, Holubec, 1992). Evaluations, was done with 3fruits randomly selected from each cultivar. Statistical analysis was done with the software Statistica 12 with Tukey HSD test. 8 cultivars were recommended at the end of the experiment