Control of damage agents on cabbage and cauliflower crops under high plastic tunnels

Abstract

The study was conducted in 2022, under high plastic tunnel conditions, at the Research and Development Institute for Vegetable and Flower Growing Vidra, aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated pest and disease management program in cabbage and cauliflower crops. Seven commercial hybrids were tested under two variants: a treated variant (V1), which received a complete sequence of chemical and biological plant protection products, and an untreated control (V2). The cabbage hybrids included ‘Delight Ball F1’, ‘Vettel F1’, ‘Zarissima RZ F1’ and ‘Magnus Cresco F1’ , while the cauliflower hybrids were ‘Freedom F1’, ‘Arienzo RZ F1’ and ‘Venoosa F1’.In cabbage, the main pathogens identified were Xanthomonas campestris, Alternaria brassicae and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, together with the pests Brevicoryne brassicae, Phyllotreta atra and Pieris brassicae. In cauliflower, X. campestris and A. brassicae were present, along with P. atra, P. brassicae and Plutella maculipennis. The protection program ensured high control efficacy, ranging from 78–89% for pathogens and pests in cabbage and 84–97% in cauliflower. Yield results reflected the effectiveness of the treatments. In cabbage, yields increased significantly in all hybrids, with the highest value recorded in ‘‘Delight Ball F1’’ (9.160 kg/m²). In cauliflower, the highest yield was obtained in ‘‘Freedom F1’’ (6.110 kg/m²), with significant and distinctly significant differences from the untreated control.Overall, the integrated protection program demonstrated high efficiency in reducing disease and pest incidence and significantly improving yields under high plastic tunnel cultivation.