Laura Macavei

Monitoring of the invasive Halyomorpha halys , a new key pest of fruit orchards in northern Italy

Halyomorpha halys is an invasive polyphagous pest with a high negative impact on fruit orchards and other agricultural crops in the USA. In Italy, it was first detected in 2012 in Emilia Romagna, a northern region that is among the major European tree fruit production areas. A specific monitoring programme using active techniques was carried out in pear orchards and adjacent uncultivated areas between 2014 and 2016 to assess the abundance, seasonality and impact of H. halys and other phytophagous Heteroptera in the field. It emerged that just a few years after first discovery, this invasive species already largely outnumbers all the other Heteroptera and that it is a season-long pest for pear crops. Severe yield losses are reported in different farms, especially on the orchard borders, with more than 50% deformed fruits. Mirids are mostly found in the grassy areas and crops, and the other phytophagous Heteroptera, only occasionally detected in the orchard trees, occur mainly on hedges and other crops. Our survey demonstrates for the first time the great damaging potential of H. halys as a new key pest of orchards in southern Europe. The study also identified the patterns of seasonal abundance of adults and nymphs in the orchards and their uncultivated surroundings, providing baseline data for the development of specific strategies for sustainable management.

Preliminary Research Concerning the Application of Viermicompost on Aphid Control in Fruit Growing

There is a growing interest for sustainable agriculture as a response to consumer’s health interest. Vermicompost is a product that answers to this demand. Due to the complex chemical composition it can be used both as a fertilizer, and pesticide. The experiment was conducted in laboratory conditions. On infested branches with black cherries aphids, three different concentrations of liquid vermicompost were applied. The variants were separated by an insulator made from solid framework covered with gauze and each of them consisted in three replicates. The data was registered at 24h, 48h, and 72h when the number of dead individuals was rated and at seven days when both alive and dead individuals were counted. Regarding the effect of liquid vermicompost concentration, the highest mortality was obtained in variant 2 (1:5) with a percentage of 82.72%. Variant 3 follows with the most concentrated solution of vermicompost (1:3), but a lower percentage 73.84%. In variant 1 (1:10) the mortality was of 70.59%, this represents the lowest value registered. Â