Scientific Research and Essays

  • Abbreviation: Sci. Res. Essays
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1992-2248
  • DOI: 10.5897/SRE
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 2768

Full Length Research Paper

Path analysis to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of climatic variables in the development stages of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Rubens Pessoa de Barros
  • Rubens Pessoa de Barros
  • Program stricto sensu in Plant Protection at the Center of Agricultural Sciences of UFAL. Department of Biological Sciences, State University of Alagoas/Campus I, Brazil.
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Ligia Sampaio Reis
  • Ligia Sampaio Reis
  • Program stricto sensu in Plant Protection at the Agricultural Sciences Center of the Federal University of Alagoas. Brazil.
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Isabelle Cristina Santos Magalhaes
  • Isabelle Cristina Santos Magalhaes
  • Biological Sciences and FAPEAL Fellow; State University of Alagoas; Arapiraca-AL. Brazil.
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Claudio Galdino da Silva
  • Claudio Galdino da Silva
  • Biological Sciences and FAPEAL Fellow; State University of Alagoas; Arapiraca-AL. Brazil.
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Miriany de Oliveira Pereira
  • Miriany de Oliveira Pereira
  • Biological Sciences and FAPEAL Fellow; State University of Alagoas; Arapiraca-AL. Brazil.
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Ana Cleia Barbosa de Lira
  • Ana Cleia Barbosa de Lira
  • Biological Sciences and FAPEAL Fellow; State University of Alagoas; Arapiraca-AL. Brazil.
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Jaciara Maria Pereira e Silva
  • Jaciara Maria Pereira e Silva
  • Biological Sciences and FAPEAL Fellow; State University of Alagoas; Arapiraca-AL. Brazil.
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Joao Gomes da Costa
  • Joao Gomes da Costa
  • Researchers at Embrapa Coastal Trails - Rio Largo-AL and Post-Graduate Program in Plant Protection - Agrarian Sciences Center - CECA / UFAL. Brazil.
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Elio Cesar Guzzo
  • Elio Cesar Guzzo
  • Researchers at Embrapa Coastal Trails - Rio Largo-AL and Post-Graduate Program in Plant Protection - Agrarian Sciences Center - CECA / UFAL. Brazil.
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  •  Received: 17 March 2018
  •  Accepted: 13 April 2018
  •  Published: 15 April 2018

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of climatic variables on the population dynamics of the tomato moth Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917), (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) through correlations and path analysis, on the main variable in organic and conventional tomato crops (Solanum lycopersicum L., Solanaceae). We studied the effects of the pheromone (used Delta traps) on insect phase sampling in two areas of agricultural with tomato cultivation in Alagoas, Northeast Brazil: latitude 09º81´76´´, longitude 36º59´42´´, during the agricultural years 2015-2017. The experimental design was completely randomized with two treatments with 60 replicates. In the path analysis, the main variables were adults, eggs, caterpillars and mines. Rainfall, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and solar radiation were explanatory and correlated variables. In the path analysis we observed that rainfall, relative humidity, and solar radiation were the variables of greatest influence on the population dynamics with direct effects in the organic system with correlation coefficients r = 0.83, r = 0.52 and r = 0.45 respectively. The following variables showed negative correlations: wind r = -0.43, and temperature r = -0.19. In the conventional system r = 0.80, r = 0.43 and r = 0.41, for the same variables. The wind speed variable had a negative effect of r = -0.38, and the temperature had a negative effect of r = -0.13. We observed that climatic conditions are variables conditioning the development of insect infestation in the tomato crops studied.
 
Key words: Integrated pest management, horticulture, food, agriculture.