The Effect of Planting Dates and Nitrogen Fertilizer on Aphis craccivora (koch) Infestation in Faba Bean (Vicia faba, L.) fields

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

2 Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

The present study was carried out at Wadi El Natrun district, El-Behera Governorate during season 2019–2020. In a field study, the effect of two planting dates and three rates of nitrogen fertilizer on a population of Legume aphid, Aphis craccivora (Koch) (Homoptera: Aphididae), in faba bean (Vicia faba, L.)were investigated. The results show that the higher occurrence of the aphid was recorded on the early planting date than the recommended one. The combination effect of climatic factors and plant age on aphid population density was presented as explained variance which was 75 and 74% in the early and recommended planting dates respectively. The population densities of aphid were significantly lower on faba bean plants fertilized with the lowest rate of nitrogen fertilizer (75 kg feddan−1), compared with those fertilized with recommended and highest rate (100 and 125 kg feddan−1 respectively) in both early and recommended planting dates. These results indicate that the recommended planting date and moderately plant nutrition can help plants to avoid insect pests infestation.

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