Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Screening for resistance against major lepidopteran and stem weevil pests of amaranth in Tanzania

  • Published:
Euphytica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Insect pests pose major challenges to optimum productivity of amaranth in Africa and Asia. The use of insecticides is the main control strategy, but is expensive and may pose health and environmental concerns, especially if proper care is not taken. Host plant resistance offers a cheap and sustainable pest management alternative. Open field experiments were conducted during two cropping seasons in 2016 and 2017 to screen 35 amaranth accessions and lines for resistance to leaf-webbers and stem weevils. The diversity (H) of lepidopteran defoliators and their parasitoids on each accession ranged from 0.00 to 1.57 and 0.00 to 1.65, respectively during the long rainy season and from 0.00 to 1.58 and 0.00 to 1.01 in the short rainy season. Accessions VI036227, RVI00027, VI054569, VI033487, VI044432, VI048076, VI049639, VI049530 and VI049698 had high levels of pest resistance with significantly lower infestations (≤ 11.11 ± 2.14%) and damage (≤ 68.06 ± 3.90%) by leaf-webbers and leaf-worms. Stem weevil infestations ranged from 68.70 ± 2.0% to 90.42 ± 1.0% during the long and short rainy seasons, respectively. Accessions VI047517-B, VI036227 and VI056563 had the least stem weevil infestations (< 62.5%) but differences among accessions for damage incidences were non-significant. Parasitism was observed in all the accessions except seven of them. Amaranth accessions exhibiting pest resistance or at least non-preference traits are important for success of breeding programs. The importance of deploying such accessions to breed for improvement of susceptible lines (by introgression) or their release to farmers, if they have desirable horticultural traits that are required by vegetable producers and consumers, for effective management of amaranth pests is also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abang AF, Srinivasan R, Kekeunou S, Hanna R, Chagomoka T, Chang JC, Bilong CB (2014) Identification of okra (Abelmoschus spp.) accessions resistant to aphid (Aphis gossypii Glover) in Cameroon. Afr Entomol 22:273–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abang AF, Srinivasan R, Kekeunou S, Yeboah M, Hanna R, Lin MY, Tenkouano A, Bilong Bilong CF (2016) Relationship of phenotypic structures and allelochemical compounds of okra (Abelmoschus spp.) to resistance against Aphis gossypii Glover. Int J Pest Manag 62:55–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aderolu IA, Omooloye AA, Okelana FA (2013) Occurrence, abundance and control of the major insect pests associated with amaranths in Ibadan, Nigeria. Entomol Ornithol Herpetol 2:112

    Google Scholar 

  • Amicarelli V, Camaggio G (2012) Amaranthus: a crop to rediscover. Forum Ware Int 2:4–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Arivudainambi S, Selvamuthukumaran T, Baskaran P (2010) Efficacy of herbal extracts in management of amaranth leaf caterpillar. Int J Veg Sci 16:167–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batra HA, Bhattacherjee NS (1960) Occurrence of Hymenia recurvalis (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Pyalidae) as a bad pest of some leaf vegetables. Indian J Entomol 22:128–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacherjee NS, Ramdas-Menon MG (1964) Bionomics, biology and control of Hymenia recurvalis (Fabricius) (Pyralidae: Lepidoptera). Indian J Entomol 26:176–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Chahal KK, Singh B, Kang BK, Battu RS, Joia BS (1997) Insecticide resistance in farmgate vegetable samples in Punjab. Pestic Res J 9:256–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke-Harris D, Fleischer SJ (2003) Sequential sampling and biorational chemistries for management of lepidopteran pests of vegetable amaranth in the Caribbean. J Econ Entomol 96:798–804

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke-Harris D, Fleischer S, Fender A (1998) Major pests of callaloo. Identification guide. The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke-Harris D, Fleischer SJ, Fuller C, Bolton J (2004) Evaluation of the efficacy of new chemistries for controlling major Lepidoptera pests on vegetable amaranth in Jamaica. CARDI Rev 4:12–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Delplanque A, Gruner L (1975) The use of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner against some Lepidoptera injurious to vegetable crops in the Antilles. Nouv Agron Antilles Guyane 1:71–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinssa FF, Hanson P, Dubois T, Tenkouano A, Stoilova T, Hughes J, Keating JDH (2016) AVRDC—The World Vegetable Center’s women-oriented improvement and development strategy for traditional African vegetables in sub-Saharan Africa. Eur J Hortic Sci 81:91–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dombroskie JJ (2011) A matrix key to families, subfamilies, and tribes of Lepidoptera of Canada. Can J Arthropod Identif 17:1–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Dugdale JS (1988) Lepidoptera—annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa. Fauna N Z 14:264

    Google Scholar 

  • Eigenbrode SD, Trumble JT (1994) Host plant resistance to insects in integrated pest management in vegetable crops. J Agric Entomol 11:201–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Triana J, Beaudin M, van Achterberg K, Agbodzavu MK, Othim ST, Nyamu FW, Fiaboe KK (2017) DNA barcodes, expanded distribution, and redescription of Apanteles hemara Nixon, 1965 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), a potential biocontrol species against amaranth leaf-webbers in Africa. J Hymenopt Res 58:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García AA, Huato MÁD, Lara MH, Sáenz-de-Cabezón FJ, Pérez-Moreno I, Marco-Mancebón V, López-Olguín JF (2011) Insect occurrence and losses due to phytophagous species in the amaranth Amaranthus hypocondriacus L. crop in Puebla, Mexico. Afr J Agric Res 6:5924–5929

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert M, Gregoire JC (2003) Visual semi quantative assessments allow accurate estimates of leafminer population densities: an example comparing image processing and visual evaluation of damage by the horse chestnut leafminer Cameraria ohridella (Lep; Gracillaridae). J Appl Entomol 127:354–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grovida F (2015) Vegetable pests. http://www.grovida.us/vegetable-pests.html. Accessed 26 May 2015

  • Ibeawuchi II, Dialoke SA, Ogbede KO, Ihejirika GO, Nwokeji EM, Chigbundu IN, Adikuru NC, Oyibo PO (2007) Influence of yam/cassava based intercropping systems with legumes in weed suppression and disease/pest incidence reduction. J Am Sci 3:49–59

    Google Scholar 

  • James B, Godonou I, Atcha-Ahowe C, Glitho I, Vodouhe S, Ahanchede A, Kooyman C, Goergen G (2007) Extending integrated pest management to indigenous vegetables. Acta Hortic 752:89–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James B, Atcha-Ahowé C, Godonou I, Baimey H, Goergen H, Sikirou R, Toko M (2010) Integrated pest management in vegetable production: a guide for extension workers in West Africa. IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagali RN, Kioko EN, Osiemo Z, Muya S, Wachera C (2013) Insect abundance and diversity on cultivated Amaranthus spp. (Amaranthacea) in Meru County, Kenya. Am Int J Contemp Res 3:110–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Kedar SC, Kumaranag KM (2013) Report on outbreak of Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricus) on Trianthema portulacastrum L. and its parasite from Haryana, India. J Entomol Res 37:149–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Kishore KV, Dharma RK, Sharma HC (2007) Expression of antixenosis and antibiosis components of resistance to spotted stem borer Chilo partellus in sorghum under greenhouse conditions. J SAT Agric Res 3:1–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Kogan M, Ortman EF (1978) Antixenosis–a new term proposed to define Painter’s “nonpreference” modality of resistance. Bull Entomol Soc Am 24:175–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuruvilla S, Jacob A (1980) Pathogenicity of the entomogenous fungus Paecilomyces farinosus (Dickson ex Fries) to several insect pests. Entomon 5:175–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Landolt P, Jang E, Carvalho L, Pogue M (2011) Attraction of Pest moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Crambidae) to floral lures on the island of Hawaii. Proc Hawaii Entomol Soc 43:49–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Louw S, Van Eeden CF, Weeks WJ (1995) Curculionidae (Coleoptera) associated with wild and cultivated Amaranthus spp. (Amaranthaceae) in South Africa. Afr Crop Sci J 3:93–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Madl M, van Achterberg CA (2014) A catalogue of the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) of the Malagasy subregion. Linz Biol Beitr 46:5–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Magurran AE (2004) Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Science Ltd, Malden

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohan MC, Reddy NP, Devi UK, Kongara R, Sharma HC (2007) Growth and insect assays of Beauveria bassiana with neem to test their compatibility and synergism. Biocontrol Sci Technol 17:1059–1069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moskova C (2013) Morphological and biological characteristics of species from the Amaranthus genus. Sci Pap Ser A Agron 56:498–499

    Google Scholar 

  • Mureithi DM, Mworia JK, Meyhöfer R, Murungi LK, Losenge T, Akutse KS, Ekesi S, Fiaboe KKM (2015) Survey for pest and natural enemies of amaranth and African nightshades in Kenya and Tanzania. In: Proceeding of the TROPENTAG BERLIN 2015: management of land use systems for enhanced food security: conflicts, controversies and resolutions, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany

  • Narayanan ES, Subba Rao BR, Ramachandra Rao M (1957) Hymenia recurvalis F. and its parasite complex. Proc Indian Acad Sci 46:241–246

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research council (NRC) (1984) Amaranth: modern prospects for an ancient crop. The National academy press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (NRC) (2006) Lost crops of Africa. Volume II: Vegetables. The National academies press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Njau GM, Nyomora AM, Dinssa FF, Chang JC, Malini P, Subramanian S, Srinivasan R (2017) Evaluation of onion (Allium cepa) germplasm entries for resistance to onion thrips, Thrips tabaci (Lindeman) in Tanzania. Int J Trop Insect Sci 37:98–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Othim STO, Agbodzavu KM, Kahuthia-Gathu R, Akutse KS, Muchemi S, Ekesi S, Fiaboe KKM (2017) Performance of Apanteles hemara (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) on two Amaranth Leaf-webbers: Spoladea recurvalis and Udea ferrugalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Environ Entomol 46:1284–1291

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pande YD (1972) Some observations on the Bionomics of Hymenia recurvalis F. (Lepid., Pyralidae) feeding on Trianthema monogyna and Amaranthus viridis in India. J Appl Entomol 72:362–366

    Google Scholar 

  • Peter C, Balasubramanian R (1984) New records of parasites of Hymenia recurvalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on Amaranthus. Entomon (India) 9:71–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Phogat BS, Bhalla S, Mal B (1994) Seasonal incidence of stem weevil (Hypolyxus truncatulus) and its effect on growth and grain yield of amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus). Indian J Agric Sci 64:261–262

    Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2017) R: a language and environment for 557 statistical computing, version 3.4.0 R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. 558 http://www.R-project.org/. Accessed 15 Mar 2018

  • Rakha M, Hanson P, Srinivasan R (2017a) Identification of resistance to Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) in closely related wild relatives of cultivated tomato based on trichome type analysis and choice and no-choice assays. Genet Resour Crop Evol 64:247–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakha M, Mbengue NB, Srinivasan R, Regnard JL, Hanson P (2017b) Evaluation of wild tomato accessions (Solanum spp.) for resistance to two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) based on trichome type and acylsugar content. Genet Resour Crop Evol 64:1011–1022

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rakha M, Zekeya N, Subramanian S, Musembi M, Srinivasan R, Hanson P (2017c) Screening recently identified whitefly/spidermite-resistant wild tomato accessions for resistance to Tuta absoluta. Plant Breed 136:562–568

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma HC, Ortiz R (2002) Host plant resistance to insects: an eco-friendly approach for pest management and environment conservation. J Environ Biol 23:111–136

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma G, Ramamurthy VV (2009) A checklist of lepidopterous pests of vegetables in India. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242072192_A_Checklist_of_Lepidopterous_pests_of_vegetables_in_India. Accessed 24 Sept 2018

  • Srinivasan R (2012) Integrating biopesticides in pest management strategies for tropical vegetable production. J Biopestic 5:36–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Srinivasan R, Uthamasamy S (2005) Trichome density and antibiosis affect resistance of tomato to fruit borer and whitefly under laboratory conditions. J Veg Sci 11:3–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Tadele Z, Assefa K (2012) Increasing food production in Africa by boosting the productivity of understudied crops. Agronomy 2:240–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tara JS, Azam M, Ayri S, Feroz M, Ramamurthy VV (2009) Bionomics of Hypolixus truncatulus (F) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae. Lixinae: Lixini) a major pest of Amaranthus caudatus L. Munis Entomol Zool 4:510–518

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Saldaña G, Trinidad-Santos A, Reyna-Trujillo T, Castillo-Juárez H, Bautista-Martínez N, León-González D (2004) Drilling of the stem of Amaranth by Hypolixus truncatulus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Amauromyza abnormalis (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Acta Zool Mex 20:131–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Turlings TC, Benrey B (1998) Effects of plant metabolites on the behavior and development of parasitic wasps. Ecoscience 5:321–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu DSK, van Achterberg C, Horstmann K (2016) Taxapad 2016, Ichneumonoidea 2015. Database on flash-drive. Nepean, Ontario, Canada. http://www.taxapad.com. Accessed 4 Sept 2017

Download references

Acknowledgements

The research work was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through icipe (Project No. 13.1432.7-001.00; Contract No. 81170265) and the World Vegetable centre (Project No. 13.1432.7-001.00; Contract No. 81170262). We gratefully acknowledge UK Aid from the UK Government; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Kenyan Government for their financial support to the research agenda of icipe. The first author received a scholarship in the BMZ funded project through the Dissertation Research Internship Program (DRIP) of icipe. The authors also express their gratitude to the project team for their technical assistance and to WorldVeg ESA for allowing the field trials to be conducted at their institution.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development, Kenyatta University, P.O. Box 43844-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    S. T. O. Othim & R. Kahuthia-Gathu

  2. Plant Health Unit, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), P. O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    S. T. O. Othim, S. Ekesi & K. K. M. Fiaboe

  3. World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan, Taiwan

    R. Srinivasan

  4. World Vegetable Center - Eastern and Southern Africa, P.O. Box 10, Duluti, Arusha, Tanzania

    T. Dubois & F. F. Dinssa

  5. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, BP. 2008 (Messa), Yaoundé, Cameroon

    K. K. M. Fiaboe

Authors
  1. S. T. O. Othim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Srinivasan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Kahuthia-Gathu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. T. Dubois
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. F. F. Dinssa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. S. Ekesi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. K. K. M. Fiaboe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

STOO, RS, RK, TD, FFD, SE and KKMF conceived research. STOO conducted experiments. RS, RK, TD, FFD, SE and KKMF provided research materials, tools and intellectual support during research execution. STOO and RK analysed data and conducted statistical analyses. STOO, RS, RK, TD, FFD, SE and KKMF wrote the manuscript. RS and KKMF secured funding. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. K. M. Fiaboe.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Othim, S.T.O., Srinivasan, R., Kahuthia-Gathu, R. et al. Screening for resistance against major lepidopteran and stem weevil pests of amaranth in Tanzania. Euphytica 214, 182 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-018-2269-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-018-2269-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation