Journal article

Publication year: 1997

Pages: 96-101

Journal: Zeitschrift für Pflanzenkrankheiten und Pflanzenschutz = Journal of plant diseases and protection

Volume number: 104

Issue number: 1

ISSN: 0340-8159

Publisher: Ulmer

Abstract: 
Studies were conducted from June to November, 1994, in the Cerro Punta area (Chiriqui, Panama) on volcanic soils at altitudes of 1.800 to 2.300 m above sea level, in the rainy season (May to December). Invertebrates were monitored by pitfall traps. The intensity of pesticide spraying was inquired from the farmers at the end of the study period and compared with data published so far. In potatoes (50 % of the agricultural area) per 120 days from planting to harvest, one nematicide, one herbicide, 13 fungicides and 19 insecticides were applied at the average. Every field in the area received more than 26 insecticidal sprays per year, but an examined farmer (Ing. agr.) sprayed insecticides at maximum 15 times, only. Collembola were by far the mast common invertebrates. Of predatory arthropods, six orders were present in the fields, but all at very low frequency (with no significant difference between crops, adding up to 0.25 specimens per trap per day). Studies from other regions of partly high insecticide input confirm the negative effects of a high frequency of insecticidal sprays on the beneficial arthropods. The necessity of training Farmers in plant protection is stressed.

Harvard Citation style: Sonder, K., Basedow, T., Sauerborn, J. and EspinozaGonzales, J. (1997) The frequency of invertebrates in fields of potatoes and carrots grown under intense conditions in a highland area of Panama, Zeitschrift für Pflanzenkrankheiten und Pflanzenschutz = Journal of plant diseases and protection, 104(1), pp. 96-101

APA Citation style: Sonder, K., Basedow, T., Sauerborn, J., & EspinozaGonzales, J. (1997). The frequency of invertebrates in fields of potatoes and carrots grown under intense conditions in a highland area of Panama. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenkrankheiten und Pflanzenschutz = Journal of plant diseases and protection. 104(1), 96-101.