Title: Effect Cotton Varieties, Sowing Date and Spacing on the Management of the Cotton Whitefly [Bemisia tabaci (Genni)], Gezira State, Sudan
Authors: A. M. A. Rudwan, A.E.M. Hassan, M. T. Y. Elamin, E. Y. M. Ahmed and A.B. Dafaallah
Volume: 8
Issue: 9
Pages: 182-188
Publication Date: 2024/09/28
Abstract:
Cotton is the most widespread profitable non-food crop in the world. The cotton whitefly [Bemisia tabaci (Genni)] a serious pest of cotton in the Sudan. This research aims to adopt cotton variety, sowing date and spacings as integrated cotton Whitefly [Bemisia tabaci (Genni)] management tools at Gezira State, Sudan. Two experiments were conducted at the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Gezira, Wad Medani, Sudan during season 2013/14 and 2014/15. I each season a factorial experiment was conducted with three cotton varieties, two sowing dates and two spacings. The varieties were Senni, Brazili (LL) and Hamid local variety. The sowing dates were third week of June and July, whereas the spacings were 25 and 50 cm intra row. Treatments were arranged in a completely randomized block design with three replicates. The cultural practices were followed as recommended by the Agricultural Research Corporation, Wad Medani, Sudan. The insect pest was recorded either for their presence or their damage that inflicted on cotton plants. Cotton yield quality was recorded at harvest. Data were transformed as needed and subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure. The cotton whitefly infestation started to appear during August, increased during September to reach the peak during October, and then decreased during November in season 2013/14 and 2014/15. There were significant (P ? 0.05) interaction effects between variety, sowing date, and spacing on the cotton whitefly infestation during the both seasons. The infestation was significantly higher on Hamid local verity (16.3 - 36.5%) on the two sowing dates on the two spacings compared with Senni 1 verity (12.8-27%) and Brazili verity (LL) (12.3.5-26.8%). There were no significant differences in the infestation between the Senni 1 verity and Brazili verity (LL). The infestation was higher on early sown compared with late sown and there were no significant differences between the sowing dates. There were no significant differences in the infestation between the sowing dates regarding Senni 1 verity and Brazili verity (LL). However, the infestation of the cotton whitefly was higher in Hamid local verity at late sown (36.3-36.5%) compared with early sown (31-32%). There were no significant differences in the infestation between the narrow spacing and wide spacing. The lowest infestation of cotton whitefly, 18.5% and 25%, was recorded when Senni 1 variety was early sown in narrow spacing and late sown in wide spacing, respectively. While the highest infestation, 18.5% and 36.5%, was recorded when Hamid local variety was early sown in narrow spacing. The stickiness level in all treatments under study were satisfactory in the both seasons and it was lower in the early sown and narrow spacing. There was an improvement on the level of maturity (microneer) on the three varieties on every season. The interaction between the cotton variety, sowing date and spacing has positive effect on the cotton whitefly control. Genetically modified cotton in addition of controlling bollworm through possessing toxic protein that kill bollworm larvae, it also controls other insect pests through keeping the natural enemies and spare them to do their role in insect control when the infestation is complex without insecticide use.