Economic Productivity and Profitability Analysis for Whiteflies and Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) Management Options

Abstract

The United States is the second largest producer of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in the world. In the U.S. tomato is produced for fresh and processed markets, respectively, and both markets contribute over $2 billion in annual farm cash receipts (Wells, 2012). Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), transmitted by whiteflies, is a major threat to tomato production in the United States and around the world (Polston et al. 1999, Moriones andNavas-Castillo, 2000;Lefeuvre et al., 2010). The spread of the virus in the field is directly correlated to increase in B. tabaci populations (Rakib et al., 2011;Adi et al., 2012). Infected plants display severe symptoms, are less vigorous, and produce fruits with reduced market value. It is common to experience yield losses of up to 100% in affected fields (Rakib et al., 2011;Pan et al., 2012;, Srinivasan et al. 2012). There are several management tactics available. However, there is no single most effective "silver bullet" management tactic to manage whiteflies and TYLCV. Therefore, it is vital to integrate several tactics to suppress pest and virus incidences and to boost yields. This study investigates the economic productivity and profitability of combining management options such as insecticides, reflective mulch, and virus-resistant cultivars for whiteflies and TYLCV management. The economic models adopted for this study include farm enterprise budgeting, sensitivity analysis and break-even analysis. Results show that total pre-harvest variable cost was $4,200/ac and the expected net return was $1,958/ac was attainable 50% of the time.

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