Single basal application of thiacloprid for the integrated management of Meloidogyne incognita and Bemisia tabaci in tomato crops

Tomato growers commonly face heavy nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) and whitefly (B-biotype Bemisia tabaci) infestations, and previous studies demonstrated that thiacloprid could be used to control M. incognita and B. tabaci in cucumber. However, the efficacy of a single basal application of thiacloprid to control both pests and its effect on yield in tomato remains unknown. In this study, the potential of thiacloprid application to the soil for the integrated control of M. incognita and B. tabaci in tomato was evaluated in the laboratory and the field. Laboratory tests showed that thiacloprid was highly toxic to whitefly adults and eggs with an average lethal concentration 50 (LC(50)) of 14.7 and 62.2 mg ai L(−1), respectively, and the LC(50) of thiacloprid for nematode J2s and eggs averaged 36.2 and 70.4 mg ai L(−1), respectively. In field trials, when thiacloprid was applied to the soil at 7.5, 15 and 30 kg ha(−1) in two consecutive years, whitefly adults decreased by 37.8–75.4% within 60 days of treatment, and the root-galling index was reduced by 31.8–85.2%. Optimum tomato plant growth and maximum yields were observed in the 15 kg ha(−1) treatment. The results indicated that a single basal application of thiacloprid could control M. incognita and B. tabaci and enhance tomato growth and yield.