Effects of sustainable integrated pest management on carrots yiel quality

Abstract

Relatively large amounts of pesticides are used to control pests in horticulture. Therefore monitoring and forecast systems become very important. By monitoring main pests numbers and considering thresholds it is possible to reduce loss of quality in vegetable yield. Recent years in horticulture noticed a rapid growth of sustainable cropping systems in Lithuania. In this system the same active ingredients of plant protection products can’t be used more than two times per season and harvest interval have to be 1.5 times longer than indicated on the label. For this reason investigation on the efficiency of forecasting models for carrot fly Psila rosae was carried out at the Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry in 2011-2012. The aim was to compare carrots yield quality, when insecticides was used according forecasting system iMETOS®sm (sustainable) and conventional cropping systems. For carrot fly control optimization P. rosae emergence model based on soil temperature accumulation system. Yellow sticky traps (IVOGR – System) were used to monitor carrot fly imagoes. Application was made with the same insecticides, but not in the same time