[Are there possibility for successful control of diseases caused by aphid-borne non-persistently transmitted viruses?] | Da li postoji mogućnost za uspešnu kontrolu oboljenja koja izazivaju virusi koji se prenose vašima na neperzistentan način?

Aphids are among the most serious agricultural insect pests. They cause major economic losses in several crops worldwide as well as in Serbia, directly because of their feeding and indirectly by transmission of plant viruses. However, their population threshold level as virus vectors is much lower than it is for them as direct pests. Aphids are the most common vectors of plant viruses, and aphid-borne non-persistently transmitted virus diseases are of greatest economic impotence in several annual cropping systems. About 50% of the approximately 600 viruses with invertebrate vectors are transmitted by aphids and most of the roughly 290 known aphid borne viruses are non-persistent. Non-persistent viruses are transmitted nonspecifically by a large number of aphid species after very brief probes (1-2 min), are lost readily after probing on a healthy plant and have a short retention time in the vector (few hours). Current control strategies for aphids regularly rely upon pesticide applications. However, many aphid species have and continue to become resistant to various classes of chemical compounds. Additionally, insecticides are largely ineffective in managing disease caused by non-persistently transmitted viruses. Furthermore, insecticides may contribute to the spread of virus transmission by inducing greater vector activity. Therefore, the development of non-chemical management strategies for controlling aphid vectors of viruses is warranted. It has been established that the number of aphids found on primary crops are consistently less in vegetation diversification than monoculture habitats. Secondary plants used within or bordering a primary crop (barrier crops) for the purpose of disease suppression are very efficient. Since non-persistently transmitted viruses cause devastating diseases in cucurbits in Serbia, all preventive measures for their control are discussed. Greater dissemination of information on these tactics for virus disease management is needed so that the agricultural community becomes better acquainted with these cultural management tools.