Field assessment of the susceptibility of onion cultivars to thrips attack – preliminary results

Abstract

Field experiments on the susceptibility of onion to thrips infestation were carried out in 2012 and 2013. The investigation used 18 cultivars and 5 breeding lines of Allium cepa , and the species A. fistulosum and A. roylei . In 2012 A. fistulosum was one of the most infested plants, whereas in 2013 infestation was no more than average. The most infested cultivars of A. cepa were ‘Efekt’, ‘Alonso F1’, ‘Alibaba’ and ‘Wama’ and the ‘NOE5’ breeding line. In 2012 the extent of damage ranged from 12 to 55%, in 2013 from 20 to 30%. The ‘NOE2’, ‘NOE3’ and ‘Wama’ cultivars were the most seriously damaged by thrips. Leaf damage to A. fistulosum was minimal. No damage was caused to the wild species A. roylei by feeding onion thrips.