TITLE:
Intercropping Empower Reduces Insect Pests and Increases Biodiversity in Agro-Ecosystem
AUTHORS:
Sadia Afrin, A. Latif, N. M. A. Banu, M. M. M. Kabir, S. S. Haque, M. M. Emam Ahmed, N. N. Tonu, M. P. Ali
KEYWORDS:
Intercropping, Mustard Production, Insect Pest, Management, Biodiversity
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.8 No.10,
October
20,
2017
ABSTRACT:
Currently insect pest management solely depends on chemical pesticide that
continuously affects on environment, biodiversity, animal as well as human
health. Outbreak of secondary insect pest is also the cost of pesticide use in
field leading crop more vulnerable to more pests. These negative impacts of
pesticides have provoked growing interest in the adoption of multi-function
agricultural biodiversity that promote pest management, creating interesting
challenge for traditional approaches to regulatory compliance. To address
multi-function agricultural practice, we tested several intercropping systems
with mustard and their effect on pest management. Our results revealed that
intercropping systems mustard with onion, garlic, radhuni and coriander significantly
reduced pest population over sole crop. However, intercropping
mustard with wheat and gram increased pest population in mustard field.
This result indicated that all crops are not suitable for intercropping system.
Among the tested intercropping systems, mustard with onion and coriander
significantly reduced branch and flower infestation and increased pod formation
per plant. These four intercropping systems did not significantly affect on
honeybee pollinator which are crucial for mustard crop yield. A significant linear
relationship was also found between honeybee population and pod formation.
Our results indicate that suitable intercropping system can be a potential
multi-functional agricultural practice for pest management in mustard
crop.