Integrated pest management approaches for two major carrot pests - the carrot root fly and carrot cyst nematode

Abstract

Carrots are among the top ten vegetable crops in the world, with an annual world production of about 428 million tonnes grown on about 11.5 million hectares. The investment per unit area is not high and with good cultivation techniques yields of up to 50 t/ha can be achieved, together with major economic benefits from winter cultivation. During the growing season, carrots are susceptible to numerous pests. The most important are the carrot root fly (Psila rosae, Fabricius), whose root-feeding fly larvae reside in the soil or plant tissue, and the carrot cyst nematode (Heterodera carotae Jones), which is responsible for the decline of carrots in many countries and requires strict sanitation measures if crops are infected. As insecticides become less available in Europe, the appropriate use of non-chemical methods in integrated pest management (IPM) needs to be emphasised, highlighting the importance of developing new tolerant varieties. This review addresses the approaches to monitor and predict the occurrence of two important carrot pests and the main control measures according to the strategies of IPM.

Keywords

• biological control
• heterodera carotae
• host resistance
• non-chemical control
• plant extracts
• psila rosae
• solarization