Use of Fertility as a Cultural Practice in Pest Management in Alfalfa

Abstract

Using different fertility sources, we evaluated the effects of these inputs on the incidences of alfalfa weevil, Hypera variabilis Hbst.(Coleoptera: Curculionidae), predatory arthropods and yield in replicated alfalfa plots in 1998 and 1999. The fertility treatments included: (i) use of inorganic fertilizers, (ii) animal manure, (iii) dried manure ash, commonly used as a plant nutrient source in the Eastern Anatolia and (iv) no added fertility control. The results showed that the weevil populations were higher in the inorganic fertilizer and the animal manure treated plots than those in the control plots both in 1998 and 1999. Dried manure ash did not have any considerable effects on the weevil populations. Yield was higher in the control plots in 1998 and in the dried manure ash treated plots in 1999 than in the other fertility treatment plots.