Acta Entomologica Sinica ›› 2016, Vol. 59 ›› Issue (11): 1282-1290.doi: 10.16380/j.kcxb.2016.11.017

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Investigation and analysis of the current status of pesticide application in winter melon and vegetable pest control in Hainan Province, southern China

LIN Zhu-Feng, JI Xun-Cong, PAN Fei, LIANG Yan-Po, XIAO Tong-Bin, XIE Sheng-Hua*   

  1.  (Institute of Plant Protection, Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hainan Key Laboratory for Control of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Haikou 571100, China)
  • Online:2016-11-20 Published:2016-11-20

Abstract: 【Aim】Hainan province is one of the major winter melon and vegetable production bases in China. However, due to the suitable environmental conditions, plant diseases and insect pests could occur all the year round, leading to a tremendous amount of pesticide consumption. This has resulted in potential risk in agricultural product quality and safety. This study investigated the current status of pesticide application and control efficiency in winter melon and vegetable pest control, and analyzed the behavior choice logic and influencing factors of agricultural producers’ pesticide application, so as to provide an effective reference for plant disease and insect pest management. 【Methods】 By means of questionnaire investigation, field survey and tracking survey, we investigated and analyzed the main plant diseases and insect pests, control situation, pesticide types, pesticide application dosage and control efficiency. 【Results】 There are many kinds of plant diseases and insect pests in winter melons and vegetables in Hainan (nearly 60 species, including 16 major insect species and 19 major plant disease species), which have long occurrence cycle and cause serious damage. The actual application dosage of pesticide has been far higher than the recommended dosage in Hainan. A huge variety of pesticides in a tremendous amount were applied in every growing season. The investigation on 25 growers showed that 86 pesticides had been applied in winter melon and vegetable growing season with the accumulated application frequency of 988 times. The most commonly used pesticides are abamectin, imidacloprid and so on. And the farmers lack of the awareness of safe use of pesticides, and blindly choose the type and dosage of pesticides. We proposed for the first time the pesticide application index as a parameter to measure the application dosage of pesticides in different crops, plant diseases and insect pests, which would be more objective to reflect the actual application dosage in the field. 【Conclusion】 Based on the investigation and analysis, comments and suggestions on pesticide use in Hainan winter melon and vegetable production are given.

Key words: Pesticide, diseases, insect pests, pesticide application index, winter melons and vegetables, Hainan