Version 1
: Received: 6 November 2024 / Approved: 6 November 2024 / Online: 6 November 2024 (17:10:46 CET)
How to cite:
Riungu, G. M.; Muthomi, J. W.; Wagacha, J. M.; Buechs, W.; Philip, E. S.; Meiners, T. Effect of Cropping Systems on the Dispersal of Mycotoxigenic Fungi by Insects in Pre-harvest Maize in Kenya. Preprints2024, 2024110471. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202411.0471.v1
Riungu, G. M.; Muthomi, J. W.; Wagacha, J. M.; Buechs, W.; Philip, E. S.; Meiners, T. Effect of Cropping Systems on the Dispersal of Mycotoxigenic Fungi by Insects in Pre-harvest Maize in Kenya. Preprints 2024, 2024110471. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202411.0471.v1
Riungu, G. M.; Muthomi, J. W.; Wagacha, J. M.; Buechs, W.; Philip, E. S.; Meiners, T. Effect of Cropping Systems on the Dispersal of Mycotoxigenic Fungi by Insects in Pre-harvest Maize in Kenya. Preprints2024, 2024110471. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202411.0471.v1
APA Style
Riungu, G. M., Muthomi, J. W., Wagacha, J. M., Buechs, W., Philip, E. S., & Meiners, T. (2024). Effect of Cropping Systems on the Dispersal of Mycotoxigenic Fungi by Insects in Pre-harvest Maize in Kenya. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202411.0471.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Riungu, G. M., Esther Sheila Philip and Torsten Meiners. 2024 "Effect of Cropping Systems on the Dispersal of Mycotoxigenic Fungi by Insects in Pre-harvest Maize in Kenya" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202411.0471.v1
Abstract
Maize productivity has remained low and has worsened in the wake of a changing climate, resulting in new invasive pests, with earlier designated minor pests becoming major and pathogens transported by pests and/or entering their feeding sites. A study was conducted in 2021 in Kisumu and Makueni counties, Kenya, to determine how different maize cropping systems affect insect diversity, insect damage to maize, and their ability to spread Aspergillus spores in pre-harvest maize. The field experiments used a randomized complete block design with the four treatments maize monocrop, maize intercropped with beans, maize-bean intercrop with Trichoderma harzianum, and push-pull technology. The fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was the most damaging pest in the two regions. The push-pull and the maize-bean intercropping technologies significantly reduced the maize foliage and ear damage caused by the Fall armyworm. Beetles passively spread mycotoxigenic Aspergillus spp. and Fusarium verticillioides on pre-harvest maize. Maize weevils, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, 1855 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Carpophilus dimidiatus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), earwigs, Forficula spp. L. (Dermaptera: Forficulidae) and carpenter ants, Camponotus spp. L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) carried the highest number of spores on their exoskeletons. The study stresses the role of insects in the spread of fungi on pre-harvest maize and their possible control by intercropping and other cropping technologies.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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