Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T19:17:08.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of Intercropping Groundnut with Sunnhemp on Termite Incidence and Damage in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

C. S. Gold*
Affiliation:
ICRISAT, Patancheru P. O., Andhra Pradesh 502 324, India
J. A. Wightman
Affiliation:
ICRISAT, Patancheru P. O., Andhra Pradesh 502 324, India
*
*Current address; IITA, Biological Control Programme, B. P. 08–0932, Cotonou, Benin.
Get access

Abstract

The effects of intercropping groundnut with sunnhemp on termite incidence and damage were studied in the rainy and post-rainy season at ICRISAT Center in central India. Termite incidence in different cropping systems was determined by baiting with bamboo stakes. Damage to groundnut plants and pods was evaluated at harvest.

Intercropping groundnut with sunnhemp did not affect termite abundance or damage to groundnut. These results contrast with a Colombian intercropping study in which sunnhemp exudates repelled cassava burrowing bugs. Termite biology, including recruitment of foragers and construction of protected runways, may have reduced exposure to sunnhemp, thereby minimizing effects.

Résumé

Au centre de l'ICRISAT en Inde centrale, une étude a été effectuée au moment de la saison des pluies et de l'après-saison des pluies sur les effets de l'association culturale arachide/Crotolaria juncia sur l'incidence et les dégâts des termites. L'évaluation de l'incidence des termites dans les différents systèmes culturaux a été effectuée à l'aide de piquets de bambou servant d'appâts. L'estimation des dégâts occasionnés sur les plants et les graines d'arachide a été menée au moment de la récolte.

L'association culturale arachide/Crotolaria juncia n'a eu aucun effet sur l'abondance des termites et leurs dég'arachide. Ces résultats sont en contradiction avec une étude colombienne portant sur l'association culturale dans le cadre de laquelle on a constaté que les éxudats de Crotolarla juncia repoussaient les punaises foreuses du manioc. Il est possible que la biologie des termites comprenant notamment le recrutement d'ouvrières et la construction de voies de passage protégées ait limité leur exposition à Crotolaria juncia, minimisant ainsi son effet repoussant.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCE

Altieri, M. A. and Letourneau, D. K. (1982) Vegetation management and biological control in agricultural systems. Crop Prot. 1, 405430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andow, D. (1983) Plant diversity and insect populations: Interactions among beans, weeds and insects. Ph.D. dissertation. Cornell University, New York.Google Scholar
Feeny, P. (1976) Plant apparency and chemical defense. Recent Adv. Phytochem. 10, 140.Google Scholar
Gold, C. S., Altieri, M. A. and Bellotti, A. C. (1989a) Direct and residual effects of short duration intercrops on the cassava whiteflies, Aleurotrachelus socialis and Trialeurodes variabilis (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in Colombia. Agric., Ecosyst. Environ. 32, 5767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gold, C. S., Altieri, M. A. and Bellotti, A. C. (1989b) Effects of intercropping and mixed varieties on the cassava hornworm, Erinnyis ello L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), and the cassava stemborer, Chilomima clarkei (Amsel) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Colombia. Trop. Pest Manage. 36, 362367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hebblethwaite, M. J. and Logan, J. W. M. (1985) Report on a visit to western Sudan to assess termite damage to Arachis hypogaea (Hedysareae), 24 Sept.-16 Oct. 1985. TDRI Ms. Chatham, England.Google Scholar
Johnson, R. A., Lamb, R. W. and Wood, T. G. (1981) Termite damage and crop loss studies in Nigeria — a survey of damage to groundnuts. Trop. Pest Manage. 27, 326342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kareiva, P. (1983) Influence of vegetation texture in herbivore: resource concentration and herbivore movement. In Variable Plants and Herbivores in Natural and Managed Systems (Edited by Denno, R. F. and McClure, M. S.), pp. 259289. Academic Press, Inc., New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Logan, J. M. W. (1988) Overseas Development Natural Resources Institute and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics collaborative project for the control of termites in groundnuts, 1986–87. Final Report. ODNRI, Chatham, England.Google Scholar
McDonald, D. and Harkness, C. (1983) Growth of Aspergillus flavus and production of aflatoxin in groundnuts—Part II. Trop. Sci. 51, 43154.Google Scholar
McDonald, D. and Harkness, C. (1967) Aflatoxin in the groundnut crop at harvest in northern Nigeria. Trop. Sci. 9, 148161.Google Scholar
Narasimhan, N. V., von Oppen, M. and Parthasarathy Rao, P. (1985) Consumer preferences for groundnut quality. Indian J. Agric. Econ. 40, 524535.Google Scholar
Parkhurst, A. M. and Francis, C. A. (1986) Research methods for multiple cropping systems. In Multiple Cropping Systems (Edited by Francies, C. A.), pp. 285316. MacMillan, London.Google Scholar
Risch, S. J. (1980) The population dynamics of several herbivorous beetles in a tropical agroecosystem: the effects of intercropping corn, beans and squash in Costa Rica. J. Appl. Ecol. 17, 593612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Risch, S. J., Andow, D. and Altieri, M. A. (1983) Agroecosystem diversity and pest control: Data, tentative conclusions and new research directions. Environ. Entomol. 12, 625629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Root, R. B. (1973) Organization of a plant-arthropod association in simple and diversity of collards (Brassica oleraceae). Ecol. Monogr. 43, 95124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheehan, W. (1986) Response by specialist and generalist natural enemies to agroecosystem diversification: a selective review. Environ. Entomol. 15, 456461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tahvanainen, J. O. and Root, R. B. (1972) The influence of vegetation diversity on the population ecology of a specialized herbivore, Phyllotreta cruciferae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Oecologia 10, 321346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vargas, O., Bellotti, A. C. and Castano, O. (1987) Distancias de siembra y rotacion de Crotalaria asociada con yuca y su effecto sobre las poblaciones de la chinche de la viruela Cyrtomenus bergi Froeschner. CIAT Ms. pp. 21, Cali, Colombia.Google Scholar
Waller, D. A. and Lafage, J. P. (1987) Nutritional ecology of termites. In Nutritional Ecology of Insects, Mites, Spiders, and Related Arthropods, (Edited by Slansky, F. and Rodriguez, J. G.), pp. 487532. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Wightman, J. A. and Amin, P. W. (1988) Groundnut pests and their control in the semi-arid tropics Trop. Pest Manage. 34, 218226.Google Scholar
Wood, T. G. (1976) The role of termites (Isoptera) in decomposition processes. In The Role of Terrestrial and Aquatic Organisms in the Decomposition Process (Edited by Anderson, J. M. and MacFadyen, A.), pp. 145168. Blackwell Sci. Publ. Oxford.Google Scholar