Effects of applying safe methods for protecting fruit plantations from pests

Systems modelling in insect ecology and management is undertaken for either descriptive or prescriptive purposes, and can be either general or specific in nature. Although recent achievements in general descriptive modelling are considerable, they do not contribute greatly in the analysis, synthesis and understanding of particular systems. Conditions governing progress in specific modelling are discussed mainly from Australian examples.It is felt that a renewed emphasis should be placed on the inductive approach to the study of ecological systems. The cost of acquiring the necessary information is so great that, increasingly, empirical investigations will have to serve clearly defined, mission‐oriented goals. Consequently, in the immediate future, prescriptive modelling of particular systems for pest control may be the principal source of data and the main testing ground for generalizations.

Urban form in special geographical conditions: a case study in Kenting National Park. Chih-Hung Chen¹, Chun-Ya Chuang¹ ¹Department of Urban Planning, National Cheng Kung University E-mail: chihhungchen@mail.ncku.edu.tw Keywords: Kenting National Park, special geographical conditions, Historico-Geographical approach, morphotope Conference topics and scale: City transformations Since the land surface is heterogeneous, the natural landscape as an essential element in contemporary morphological studies becomes the initial factor in the formation of a settlement. Moreover, the interaction with natural landscape, built form and the boundary matrix can illuminate ecological perspective on the form of the city. (Scheer, 2016) To understand the urban form under special geographical conditions, a case study is conducted in Kenting National Park, which is a tropical area with rich landscape such as moutains, lakes and rivers, plains, basins, and surrounded by seas. An analytical approach based on Historico-Geographical approach (Kropf, 2009; Oliveira, 2016) is applied in this paper. After identifying the scope of 42 settlements, there are three outer shape types such as compact, scattered, linear. Then, three kinds of morphotopes (Conzen, 1988) can mainly be figured out by comparing the combination between streets, buildings and plots: i) Detached, duplex houses on small plots along the access road; ii) Attached buildings on small plots along the main road; iii) Villas or hotels on large plots along the main road. Finally, the relationship between the larger plan units (Conzen, 1960) and the geographical conditions shows that the homogeneous configuration of plan units corresponds to the certain landscape. On the other hand, this article seeks to find out the impacts and changes caused by special geographical conditions in consequence of the landscape affects not only the formation of urban form but the evolution because its influence on socio-economic conditions. References Conzen, M. R. G. (1960) Alnwick, Northumberland: A study in Town-plan Analysis (Institute of British Geographers, London). Conzen, M.R.G. (1988) ‘Morphogenesis, morphological regions, and secular human agency in the historic townscape, as exemplified by Ludlow’, in Urban Historical Geography. Recent progress in Britain and Germany, 253-272. Kropf, K. (2009) ‘Aspects of urban form’, Urban morphology 13(2), 105-20. Oliveira, V. (2016) Urban Morphology (Springer International Publishing, Switzerland), 102-111. Scheer, B. C. (2016) ‘The epistemology of urban morphology’, Urban Morphology 20, 5-17.

Agriculture is composed of many factors that alter its production, are of an environmental and management nature, and in terms of management, pests and diseases are of great importance, as they cause a lot of damage to the crop, at different times, and the control of these is essential. pests and diseases to ensure that the plant can reach its production potential. With the concern for a more sustainable production, agriculture has diversified through transformations in the technological and information scopes, which helped to increase the production of production systems. However, only biological and plant-based controls did not guarantee such a large control of pests and diseases, and to complement the control, and to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture, cultural control was used. This cultural control, together with its sustainable management of pests and diseases, using biological control methods and the base of plant origin, brought new forms of pest and disease control, helping in management, and providing a more sustainable production environment. In addition to these benefits, cultural control is of great importance in the control of pests and diseases, as its control comes as a preventive practice, providing a diversity of the system, and a better control of pests and diseases by breaking cycles, culture, pests and diseases.

John Clarkson and John Whipps from Horticulture Research International at Wellesbourne, Warwick, UK, outline the wide variety of methods which are available for the control of sclerotial pathogens in horticulture, including the use of biological and integrated control methods.

Problems and opportunities in integrated pest control programs are outlined with primary emphasis on agronomic inputs; basic ecological concepts are reviewed in the context of the disturbed environments in which crops are grown for food and fiber. Particular attention is given to the interrelationship of crop management and plant breeding with other biological control measures, such as exclusion and the use of predators and parasites. The origin of environmental concerns is reviewed together with possible approaches that will aid in solving complex pest control problems. Recognition is given to the need for utilizing existing information on biological control, improving the effectiveness of agricultural chemicals, developing new approaches and improving existing methods of biological pest control, and integrating all components into systems for individual crops and cropping systems.

The control of pests and weeds is an essential prerequisite for ensuring crop yields. Sugar beet varieties with resistance or tolerance properties to foliar diseases, nematodes, and soil-borne viruses (rhizomania) are an essential component of integrated pest management, which is decisive in the EU. Chemical plant protection continues to be of great importance in the control of plant diseases, pests, and weeds. A comprehensive situation analysis on plant protection in sugar beet cultivation in Germany was published in 2018. Since then, significant changes have occurred in this area, which present both challenges and opportunities for sugar beet cultivation. The availability of efficient chemical control measures has been further limited by the loss of important active substances, the reduced availability of active substances with different modes of action and the emergence of resistant pests (fungicide resistance). This requires the development of alternative control strategies for known pests such as the green peach aphid, the vector of virus yellows. The spectrum of harmful pests has also been expanded with the occurrence of Pentastiridius leporinus, a cicada transmitting the SBR disease (SBR = low sugar content syndrome). In contrast, there has been considerable progress in variety breeding, resulting in new variety traits that improve chemical control of weeds or reduce the need for fungicides. Significant efforts are also invested into research in the field of digital technologies or new cultivation systems. This article highlights the current developments in crop protection and discusses the consequences for sugar beet cultivation.

This paper presents a prototype of a long-term night-vision video analyzing system intended for labor-saving agriculture use. Recently, physical stimulation approaches using light, sonar, microwave, and vibration have been assessed for pest control. For accurate application of physical stimulus to pests directly, it is necessary to elucidate their ecology and habits. However, numerous habits remain unknown, especially those of nighttime. As a primary step for understanding the ecology of pests and analyzing their habits, it is necessary to identify metamorphoses such as extrication, pupation, and eclosion. For this study, we proposed a novel method combined with background subtraction and optical flows for the detection of eclosion, flying, and mating. Our measurement system consists of an incubator and two night-vision cameras. In the incubator, we released cabbage moths in the space surrounded by an acrylic plate. We prepared a dish containing sugar water as feed. Night-vision cameras installed to the upper part of the incubator recorded time-series images during daytime and nighttime for 15 days, switched artificially. The experimentally obtained results revealed that behavior patterns of eclosion and mating were stably detectable, except for overlapping of imagoes and cloudy conditions in the acrylic case. Moreover, results showed that eclosion occurred during nighttime. Motions changed remarkably according to environmental changes. Furthermore, cabbage moths moved only slightly before mating and slightly during mating. We obtained knowledge of basic tendencies of behavior patterns according to ground truth datasets to achieve labor saving for automatic pest control.

Methods of pest control (especially herbicides) in current use in China are discussed and some impressions are given of Chinese agriculture as seen on a recent visit. More than ten different chemicals were being used on one commune while, on another, two herbicides were manufactured as a rural industry. Biological control methods are in field use in some crops. The production of artificial fertilizers together with the use of herbicides and small machines is steadily increasing, enabling more local people to work in rural industries.

Entomopathogenic microorganisms as biocontrol agents for agricultural sustainability

Arthropod-borne viruses (Arboviruses) replicate in vertebrates and invertebrates and are mainly transmitted by mosquitoes. Between 2000 and 2021, several arbovirus outbreaks were recorded in African countries, including dengue, yellow fever, Chikungunya, Zika, and O’nyong nyong. Most often, the causes and factors involved in these outbreaks are unknown. We aimed to understand current knowledge regarding factors responsible for the persistent transmission and emergence of mosquito-borne arboviruses in Africa and to identify critical research gaps important for preventing future outbreaks. We used a systematic literature review between 2020 and 2021, to show that the main identified factors favoring the arbovirus outbreak in Africa are low vaccination coverage, high density and diversity of competent mosquitoes, insecticide resistance of mosquito vectors, and a scarcity of data on arboviruses. Further studies on arboviruses may include studies of competence to viral strains and the susceptibility of mosquito vectors to insecticides. Because of the detrimental effects of insecticides on human health and the environment, viral paratransgenesis and other biological control methods should be explored as alternatives or as supplements to insecticides.Graphical abstractIllustration of factors identified for promoting the transmission of arbovirus in Africa. The main factors are the lack of drugs and vaccines, low coverage of vaccination when a vaccine exists, competence of mosquitoes to viruses, diversity and high density of vectors. Climate change, urbanization, deforestation and agricultural practices, lead to a richness and high density of vectors.

Goal. To investigate the effectiveness of the insecticide Jalentra, CS (chlorantraniliprole, 106 g/l + bifenthrin, 159 g/l) in reducing the population and harmfulness of phytophagous arthropods and its impact on the productivity indicators of apple trees in commercial orchards. Methods. Route surveys were conducted from 2015 to 2024 in horticultural farms in the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine (Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Poltava, and Kyiv regions) to determine the species composition and population density of major pests, the areas of orchards they infest, including the codling moth and various leafrollers, sucking pests (scale insects, false scale insects, aphids, and fruit mites). Research was carried out in 2023—2024 in commercial apple orchards under the conditions of the university’s educational and production department. The technical efficiency of Jalentra, CS (chlorantraniliprole, 106 g/l + bifenthrin, 159 g/l) was evaluated at different application rates against plant-feeding mites and insects damaging leaves, shoots, and generative organs of trees and its impact on apple productivity in commercial orchards. The accounting was carried out according to standard methods in fruit growing and plant protection. Results. According to route surveys in apple orchards of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, the most numerous and harmful arthropod species during the summer growing season included 21 phytophagous species, specifically: Three mite species (family Tetranychidae); Three aphid species (suborder Aphidinea); Four scale insect and false scale insect species (suborder Coccidae); Five leafroller species (family Tortricidae); Six moth species (family Gracillariidae). During 2023—2024, the most harmful species in the university’s commercial apple orchards were: Mites: red fruit mite, common spider mite; Aphids: green apple aphid, red-gall or gray apple aphid, woolly apple aphid; Scale insects: California red scale, oyster shell scale (or false California scale), acacia false scale; Moths: rose leafroller, netted leafroller, timid leafroller, codling moth; Leaf-mining moths: hawthorn blotch miner, apple lower-side leaf miner, apple upper-side fruit miner. The application of Jalentra, CS resulted in a population reduction of: Mites by 87.9—90.5%; Aphids by 90.9—94.8%; Scale insects and false scale insects by 83.8—90.7%; Moths by 90.8—96.1%. This contributed to obtaining high-quality apple production, with yields 1.39—1.43 times higher than the control (water treatment). The percentage of non-standard products did not exceed 13.1%, compared to 24.8% in the control. The study also confirmed an increase in the biometric indicators of trees, namely: Annual shoot length: +2.0—14.5%; Internode length: +8.8—9.5%; Shoot thickness: 1.05 times thicker; Leaf surface area: +19.6—30.8%. These factors are crucial for forming fruit buds and future yields in apple orchards. No phytotoxic effects of the insecticide on plants were observed during the study. Conclusions. The application of Jalentra, CS (0.25—0.4 l/ha) effectively reduces the harmfulness of major arthropods in commercial apple orchards, providing long-term pest control during the growing season. It improves tree biometric parameters, increases yields, and enhances the commercial quality of apple production. For mites, woolly apple aphids, and California red scale, the recommended application rate is 0.35—0.4 l/ha. The technical efficiency results of Jalentra, CS against major arthropods in apple orchards suggest that it should be recommended to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine for further registration for apple orchards at the specified application rates and inclusion in the national list of approved pesticides and agrochemicals for use in Ukraine.

• Impacts of land use intensity (LUI) on the diversity of soil communities depend on land use type. • Different agricultural practices drive soil communities composition in arable vs grassland soils. • Understudied taxa like protists are a key element of soil network responses to LUI. • Land use type, rather than LUI, influences the complexity of the soil metacommunity network. While there is an emerging body of research showing the consequences of land use intensity on soil biodiversity, most studies focus on biodiversity responses to a single or a limited number of agricultural practices in controlled settings or at a single field site, neglecting that multiple practices are simultaneously applied by farmers in real agroecosystems. The combined effects of various agricultural practices have, until now, been largely overlooked in agroecosystems. Here, we conducted a field soil sampling campaign on 87 farms with two land use types (39 arable fields and 48 grasslands) to investigate the relationship between land use intensity, determined by various agricultural practices, and multiple soil communities (bacteria, fungi, protists and invertebrates) at regional scales. We found that land use intensity influenced the diversity and community composition of various soil taxa differently, and these impacts strongly depended on land use type. Soil fungi were most susceptible to land use intensity in both arable fields and grasslands. Specifically, irrigation and pest control were the main practices shaping soil communities in arable fields, while phosphorus and nitrogen fertilization were the main practices structuring soil communities in grasslands. Furthermore, an increase in land use intensity led to greater soil network complexity in arable fields. Our findings reveal regional on-farm patterns of land use intensity effects on various soil communities and identified key agricultural practices that structure soil communities. A key strength of this study is that these patterns can be generalized because the samples were collected from 87 farmlands where multiple agricultural practices were implemented simultaneously. Overall, this work provides a comprehensive perspective on the different responses of multiple soil communities and their associations to land use intensity in agroecosystems.

Goal. Research of the history of formation and stages of activity of the Institute of Plant Protection of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, its role in increasing the efficiency of the agro-industrial production of the country, in the scientific and business world.
 Methods. Analysis of archival data on the establishment of the modern Institute of Plant Protection of NAAS, articles on the activities of the institution, scientific works of scientists.
 Results. At all stages of its history, the Institute has successfully solved important tasks related to the development of effective plant protection measures from the most dangerous pests and diseases, in particular the improvement of the chemical method of protection, development and implementation of biological protection measures. The economic expediency of the use of insecticides is theoretically substantiated; the economic thresholds of harmfulness of phytophages, indicators of ecological safety of the chemical method of protection and the theoretical foundations of integrated plant protection from harmful organisms are developed. A huge work on scientific provision of breeding of agricultural plants to resistance against pathogens of diseases and pests is carried out. A set of scientific researches on improving ecological and safe methods of protecting cultures under radioactive contamination are carried out. Systems of monitoring and controlling the number of parasitic phytonematodes on wheat winter, potatoes, sugar beets, vegetable cultures of greenhouse are developed. Numerous scientific researches on quarantine of plants are carried out. There are developments on the forecasting of the beans of field crops and improvement of techniques of use of herbicides. Large-scale researches on wheat genetics are carried out.
 Conclusions. The Institute of Plant Protection of NAAS has always played and now plays a huge role in improving the efficiency of agro-industrial production. It is firmly established in the scientific and business world.

Today the major oil producing crops from the Brassicaceae family in the world and Ukraine are winter rape (Brassica napus oleifera bienis D. C.) and spring rape (Brassica napus oleifera annua Metzg.). At present the acreage of these crops in the world is over 40 million hectares, and in Ukraine there are more than 1 million hectares. Less common crops are white mustard (Sinapis alba L.) and Chinese mustard (Brassica juncea Gzem.). The world acreage under the mustard crops is about 3,0 million hectares (in Ukraine there are about 100 thousand hectares). Other oil producing crops from the cabbage family such as spring winter cress (Brassica campestris L.), winter rape (Brassica rapa oleifera DC), winter false flax (Camelina sativa subsp. pilosa N. Zinge), spring false flax (Camelina sativa var. Glabrata (DC.), oily radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. oleiformis Pers) and black mustard (Brassica nigra (L.) Koch) occupy only a small area, while the Abyssinian mustard (Crambe abyssinica Hosts. ex. RE Fr.) is not grown in our country at all. It is impossible to obtain high and stable yields of all agricultural crops without protection of plants from the harmful insects. The losses of the crops due to the pests are huge, especially during the mass reproduction of the insects. The entomocomplex of agroceonoses of oil producing cabbage crops is extremely rich and contains several hundred species. As a result of their vital functions more than 50% of the crops can be lost and as far as 25-55% growth increase in the yield can be reached due to the pollinating insects. Despite the short-term existence of agroceonoses of spring oil producing cabbage crops (90-120 days) their entomofauna is characterised by a considerable diversity of species composition. During the vegetation periods in 2007–2019 in the fields of the Educational, Research and Production Centre “Research Field” of Kharkiv National Agrarian University named after V.V. Dokuchaiev and the State Enterprise “Research Farm “Elitne” of the Institute of Plant Growing named after V.Ya. Yuriev of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine we have found 54 species of specialised and multi-faceted pests of oil producing cabbage crops that belong to eight lines and 22 families. Among them 29 species are the specialised pests and 25 are multi-faceted ones. The frequency of the pest species occurrence on the crops is the following: eight species (15%) populate the crops on a mass scale, six species (11%) are moderately spread, and 40 species (74%) have a low population density. The cabbage bug, mustard bug, ground cabbage aphid, rose chafer, rape blossom beetle, mesographe flea beetle, flea beetle and diamond black moth belong to the species that populate the crops on a mass scale. Among them four species belong to the Coleoptera line, two species belong to the Hemiptera line, one species belong to the Homoptera line and one species belong to the Lepidoptera line. The representatives of the Coleoptera line dominate; their proportion in the entomological community structure is 48% (26 species). The economic importance of these pests is not the same and greatly depends on the population density and phenophase of the crop development as well as on weather conditions.

RNA interference (RNAi) has been recognized as a novel and safe strategy in pest management due to its high sequence-dependent specificity. However, the existing dsRNA delivery methods largely restrict the application of the RNAi-based pest management strategy; thus, we previously constructed a nanocarrier-based transdermal dsRNA delivery system on the soybean aphid Aphis glycines with the help of nanocarrier and detergent. In the current study, we improved our transdermal dsRNA delivery system with a smaller and cheaper nanocarrier to investigate the efficacy of spraying aphid-infested soybean seedlings to apply our RNA pesticide. A dsRNA/nanocarrier/detergent formulation was performed, and the dsRNA could penetrate the aphid body wall within 4 h with the help of nanocarrier through the topical application. Four potential RNAi target genes (TREH, ATPD, ATPE and CHS1) were selected and cloned, and their dsRNA fragments were synthesized and tested through the transdermal dsRNA delivery system. The delivered dsRNA efficiently silenced the target gene expression with the knockdown effects ranging from 86.86 to 58.87% and resulted in a high mortality up to 81.67% (dsATPD + dsATPE) through the topical application, when through the spray method, with the highest percent mortality of 78.50% (dsATPD + dsCHS1). Our novel transdermal dsRNA delivery system not only provides a powerful tool for gene functional analysis in laboratory, but also shows a great potential for the pest management in the field, which will promote the practice and development of RNAi-based pest management.