Evaluation of efficacy of selected botanical extracts for control of tomato whitefly

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is essential globally for nutrition and income purposes, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The crop faces significant challenges from whiteflies, which damage plants by feeding on leaf sap and transmitting tomato leaf curl virus, leading to reduced crop yields. Synthetic insecticides have been effective, but pose environmental and health risks. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of selected botanical extracts, for controlling whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius,1889) in tomato production in Central and Rift valley regions, in Kenya. The study was conducted over two growing seasons. Treatments included extracts from Tithonia, Neem, and Datura leaves and their mixtures. Confidor WG 70 was a positive control. The whitefly-susceptible tomato variety, Kilele F1, was used in this study. Neem extract was the most effective botanical (5.4 ± 5.56), followed by Neem+Datura (8.5 ± 8.59) and Datura (10.1 ± 9.46). Confidor WG 70 (4.4 ± 4.45) was the most effective overall. Leaf curl management was best with Confidor WG 70 (0.33±0.12), followed by Neem extract (1 ± 0.45), with the untreated plot showing the most severe damages (3.5± 1.45). The highest yield was correspondingly obtained from the Confidor WG 70 treatment (30.0 ± 0.50 metric tonnes ha-1), followed by Neem extract (26.7 ± 0.50 t ha-1); while the lowest yield was in the untreated plot (8.3 ± 1.75 t ha-1). Neem and Neem+Datura mixtures showed high potential for controlling tomato whiteflies, and could be out-scaled for this purpose.