The influence of induced shading in Leucaena leucocephala seedlings on Heteropsylla cubana
2001
Madoffe, S.S. | Ngoo, G.A. | Tarimo, A.
The effect of leucaena psyllid (Heteropsylla cubana) Crawfords (Homoptera: Psyllidae) on the growth of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit seedlings was evaluated in relation to three shading levels (light, 10%; moderate, 25%; and heavy, 50%) for 15 weeks. The biomass loss for the psyllid attacked seedlings was respectively 15.9%, 4.8% and 7% for those shaded at 10%, 25% and 50% while the level of damage, shoot health and nymph abundance although not significantly different between treatments were higher in the lightly shaded seedlings (10%) than the other treatment levels. The psyllid life cycle was estimated at between 16-19 days while the relationship between shoot health and psyllid population was strongly correlated (r2 = 0.94). Environmental factors such as solar light intensity appeared to have some influence on the performance of the leucaena psyllid and is therefore recommended that leucaena plantings should be confirned to areas with some tree shades.
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