Alternatives for the management of Bemisia ssp. in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), in the Valley of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico

To manage Bemisia spp. in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) crop, different alternatives were evaluated: endosulfan, malathion, dimetoato and metamidofos; entomopathogenic fungi based insecticides such as Paecilomyces fumosoroseus, Lecanicillium lecanii and Beauveria bassiana; vegetal extracts: Tagetes erecta, Azadirachta indica and Allium sp.; mineral oils: Saf-t-side and Nu-film; predators: Chrysoperla carnea and Cycloneda sanguinearelease and an and a blank treatment. The study site was localized in the Valley of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 cycles. A randomly complete block design with four replicates was used, assessing differences among populations of adults, nymphs and eggs, through analysis of variance and a test for comparison of means. Ten weekly applications were made for each growth cycle and laboratory data were recorded two days after each application; the products were applied once a week. In both cycles, adult populations in the blank treatment were similar to those found using predators, but there were significant differences between predators and all the other treatments; the enthomopathogenic fungi, chemical insecticides, vegetal extracts, and mineral oils showed no differences between them. Each year a minor, but significant effects were observed due to the different predator species over the nymph population, followed by plant extracts and mineral oil, while in the last place were chemical insecticides and entomopathogenic fungi. In the egg stage, the effect of predators was significantly different from the other treatments, which did not differ significantly between them in both crop cycles. There were highly significant differences between treatments for adults, nymphs an eggs numbers per leaf. This essay reports that all treatments applied were different from the blank treatment and consequently these can be used as an alternative to decrease the white fly populations in the eggplant fields, for an integrated management of this pest. Para el manejo de Bemisia spp. en el cultivo de berenjena (Solanum melongena L.), se evaluaron diferentes alternativas, entre ellas, los insecticidas químicos: endosulfan, malathion, dimetoato y metamidofos; los bioplaguicidas: Paecilomyces fumosoroseus, Lecanicillium lecanii y Beauveria bassiana; los extractos vegetales: Tagetes erecta, Azadirachta indica y Allium sp.; aceites minerales: Saf-t-side y Nu-film y la liberación de depredadores: Chrysoperla carnea, y Cycloneda