Reduced tillage practices for managing the Colorado potato beetle in processing tomato production

Abstract

Experiments were conducted on processing tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) grown in a reduced tillage system utilizing rye (Secale cereale L.) as a cover crop, to determine the effects of tillage practices on the severity of Colorado potato beetle [Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)] infestation and damage. Colonization by newly emerged adult Colorado potato beetles in the spring was significantly more rapid in conventional tillage than in reduced tillage plots in 2 of 3 years. Conventional tillage plots without insecticide had significantly higher densities of egg masses, larvae, and second-generation adult Colorado potato beetles at several sampling dates over the 3-year study. Reduced tillage plots sustained less defoliation than conventional tillage plots without insecticide and had higher yields of ripe fruit. The results of this study establish that damage from the Colorado potato beetle can be significantly reduced in processing tomatoes through the use of minimum tillage.