Perimeter Cropping As a Means of Reducing Insect Injury and Increasing Crop Yield

<p>The squash vine borer, <em>Melittia cucurbita</em>e Harris, (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) is a destructive insect known to injure a broad range of cucurbit crops. Many studies have focused on insecticide management of this insect in squash (<em>Cucurbita</em>) and pumpkin (<em>Cucurbita pepo</em> Linnaeus) production; however, little work has been documented on organic approaches to reduce or eliminate injury from this pest to these crops in the Midwest. This study used trap cropping and pollinator mixtures to test whether a reduction of squash vine borer could be achieved in a specific cultivar of pumpkins, <em>Cucurbita pepo</em> ‘Howden’. The study was conducted during the 2015 growing season and compared plantings of ‘Howden’ pumpkins with three treatment perimeters. The first perimeter consisted of a wildflower pollination mixture with a common winter squash, <em>Cucurbita maxima</em> ‘Hubbard’ Gregory, known to attract squash vine borer, as the trap crop. The second perimeter contained only the wildflower pollination mixture while the third perimeter for this experiment consisted of bare soil. The presence of squash vine borer injury within the cash crops of ‘Howden’ pumpkins was reduced when surrounded by a perimeter crop consisting of a wildflower pollination mixture and a trap crop of ‘Hubbard’ squash. The pollination/trap treatment provided value in addition to its potential to attract the squash vine borer. The flowers of the wildflower pollination mixture attracted many beneficial insects that helped optimize the pollination process of the cash crop of ‘Howden’ pumpkins.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agronomy, Horticulture, and Plant Science

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Owens, Brett L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• E. Brent Turnipseed

• Horticulture

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1191

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-2183