Articles
Sweet potato cultivar and harvest date influence on Cylas formicarius damage
Article number
1118_22
Pages
153 – 156
Language
English
Abstract
Sweet potato weevil (Cylas formicarius) is the most serious pest of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), not only in the Virgin Islands but also throughout the Caribbean.
It causes damage in the field to leaves, stems and tuberous roots.
Our objective was to evaluate harvest date and weevil damage in 18 sweet potato cultivars.
Twelve sweet potato cultivars were from in vitro virus-free material and six were Caribbean farmer cultivars.
The cultivars were established from six node cuttings in a replicated trial at one foot (33 cm) in-row spacing and five feet (165 cm) between rows.
Weevil traps with a male pheromone were distributed throughout sweet potato plantings and monitored weekly.
Harvest was conducted at 100, 115 and 130 days.
Weevils were found to increase during the initial four weeks and stabilized during the rest of the growing season.
Through the course of the trial, nearly 2,000 male weevils were captured and destroyed.
These numbers however indicate that sweet potato weevils were at a high pressure throughout the growing period.
All cultivars had weevil damage to tuberous roots at 100 days (4-15%), however by 130 days the weevil damage ranged from 4-75%. Overall, marketable production was reduced due to weevil damage, the longer the sweet potato remains in the field after 100 days.
Sweet potato cultivars with tuberous roots near the soil surface were more prone to sweet potato weevil damage then cultivars with deeper tuberous roots.
It causes damage in the field to leaves, stems and tuberous roots.
Our objective was to evaluate harvest date and weevil damage in 18 sweet potato cultivars.
Twelve sweet potato cultivars were from in vitro virus-free material and six were Caribbean farmer cultivars.
The cultivars were established from six node cuttings in a replicated trial at one foot (33 cm) in-row spacing and five feet (165 cm) between rows.
Weevil traps with a male pheromone were distributed throughout sweet potato plantings and monitored weekly.
Harvest was conducted at 100, 115 and 130 days.
Weevils were found to increase during the initial four weeks and stabilized during the rest of the growing season.
Through the course of the trial, nearly 2,000 male weevils were captured and destroyed.
These numbers however indicate that sweet potato weevils were at a high pressure throughout the growing period.
All cultivars had weevil damage to tuberous roots at 100 days (4-15%), however by 130 days the weevil damage ranged from 4-75%. Overall, marketable production was reduced due to weevil damage, the longer the sweet potato remains in the field after 100 days.
Sweet potato cultivars with tuberous roots near the soil surface were more prone to sweet potato weevil damage then cultivars with deeper tuberous roots.
Authors
T.W. Zimmerman, C. Montilla, S.M.A. Crossman
Keywords
Ipomoea batatas, sweet potato weevil, tuberous roots
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