Effects of compost and chicken litter on soil nutrition, and sugarcane physiochemistry, yield, and injury caused by Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Selected Abiotic and Biotic Environmental Stress Factors Affecting Two Economically Important Sugarcane Stalk Boring Pests in the United States

“…The recommended rate of nitrogen fertilizer for Lower Rio Grande Valley sugarcane was applied at the beginning of two consecutive growing seasons. Sugarcane leaf tissue from the heavily composted plots contained substantially more nitrogen than leaf tissue from low compost and noncomposted control plots [93]. Leaf tissue from plants grown on heavily composted soil during the first growing season had significantly (p < 0.05) more nitrogen than leaf tissue from the control [93].…”

“…Drought stress elevated accumulations of free glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tyrosine, valine, total free essential amino acids in three repeated bioassays (in two of the bioassays, free alanine also increased) on two cultivars (Table 1 shows data for one of the three bioassays) [69]. In addition to free amino acids, fructose has also been associated with oviposition preference and injury to sugarcane stalks [92,93], but water deficit stress has not yet been evaluated for its effects on fructose concentrations. Figure 1.…”

“…Water deficit in a greenhouse without confounding factors common to field situations induced a substantially wider range and less variability of free amino acid accumulations than were detected in field-grown sugarcane [69]. Drought stress elevated accumulations of free glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tyrosine, valine, total free essential amino acids in three repeated bioassays (in two of the bioassays, free alanine also increased) on two cultivars (Table 1 shows data for one of the three bioassays) [69].In addition to free amino acids, fructose has also been associated with oviposition preference and injury to sugarcane stalks [92,93], but water deficit stress has not yet been evaluated for its effects on fructose concentrations. In regions of relatively low rainfall and in regions that experience periods of drought, sugarcane should be adequately irrigated to avoid exacerbating E. loftini infestations [14,66,69,70,94,95].…”

“…In this way, rich or excessive soil nutritional quality can exert stress by increasing the intensity of pest infestation. High soil nitrogen, for example, affects the degree to which sugarcane is infested and injured by E. loftini [93]. In field plots located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, organic matter with 1.1% N (3320 ppm nitrate) applied at relatively low and high rates 8 mo before planting resulted in 2.6-to 4-fold more soil nitrate at planting time than noncomposted soil [93].…”

“…High soil nitrogen, for example, affects the degree to which sugarcane is infested and injured by E. loftini [93]. In field plots located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, organic matter with 1.1% N (3320 ppm nitrate) applied at relatively low and high rates 8 mo before planting resulted in 2.6-to 4-fold more soil nitrate at planting time than noncomposted soil [93]. The recommended rate of nitrogen fertilizer for Lower Rio Grande Valley sugarcane was applied at the beginning of two consecutive growing seasons.…”