In Central Amazonia there are no examples of pests or diseases whose incidence is reduced in agroforestry systems

DUARTE A. J. A.

GASPAROTTO, L.

LIEBEREI, R.

SCHROTH, G.

English

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Pest and disease incidence in agroforestry systems of the Brazilian Central AmazonGasparotto, Luadir i",Aguilar, José Alfredo D. (1), Gõtz Schroth'" and Lieberei, Reinhard (2)(I) Embrapa of Manaus, Brazil, (2) University of Hamburg, GermanyAgroforestry systems are considered a sustainable altemative production system for small farmers. There ismuch speculation about the beneficial effects of this technique with respect to the reduction of crop diseases andIpests, but few detailed studies have been carried out to substantiate these claims. It is believed that the mixture of idifferent plant species in agroforestry systems could reduce the incidence of pests and diseases because non-hostplants can serve as barriers to their dissemination and can create favorable conditions to attract natural enemiesof pests. This hypothesis is valid in tropical forests where a very high plant diversity entrains very small densitiesof plant individuaIs per species.However, the species choice in agroforestry systems is determined by economic considerations and the numberof species is much smaller. In central Amazonia, a high incidence of air-bom pest and pathogen species isobserved, independently of the number of plant species or of their position within agroforestry systems. Theseinclude the pests Hypsipyla grandella (the shoot borer of Swietenia macrophylla, Carapa guianensis andCedrela odorata) and Toxoptera citricidus (attacking the leaves of orange trees) as well as the pathogens ICrinipellis perniciosa (withches' broom of cocoa and cupuaçu trees), Corticium salmonicolor (pink disease of Iorange and cupuaçu trees), Thanatephorus cucumeris (target leaf spot of rubber, orange and mahogany trees),Sclerotium coffeicola and Pellicularia koleroga (affecting tens of plant species). In central Amazonia there areno examples of pests or diseases whose incidence is reduced in agroforestry systems.64 Lecture session 4

Pest and disease incidence in agroforestry systems of the Brazilian Central Amazon.

http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/bitstream/doc/670000/1/GermanBrazilianpag.64.pdf

Pest and disease incidence in agroforestry systems of the Brazilian Central Amazon.

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