| dc.description.abstract | Field experiments were conducted over two croppi
ng seasons to investigate the effectiveness of
border crops in managing potato aphids and the
associated viruses in seed potato production.
Potato plots were surrounded with maize,
sorghum and wheat borde
rs. Aphid population was
monitored on leaves and on yellow sticky traps.
Other data collected
included virus disease
incidence and tuber yield. The
border crops reduced aphid popula
tion on leaves compared to
non-bordered potato plots. More alate aphids we
re caught on yellow sticky traps placed inside
potato plots than on traps placed inside the border crops. In addition, virus disease incidence was
reduced in all plots surrounded by the border cr
ops. However, plots surrounded by border crops
had reduced tuber yield, although the yield of s
eed grade was increased. The results indicated
that use of border crops would be
beneficial in the management of
virus diseases in small-holder
seed potato production. | en |
