Diversification of Andean crop systems at local and landscape scales: enhancing biological control of potato pests

• Applicant: Professorin Katja A. Poveda
• Subject Area: Ecology of Land Use
• Term: from 2006 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 25515002

There is a worldwide concern on how to reduce the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers that negatively affect ecosystems functions and human health. Alternative agricultural practices like the use of repellent and trap plants at a local scale and of diversified habitats at a landscape scale, as we studied in the first part of this project are a good alternative. On the other hand using the plants natural response to herbivory can provide alternatives for future herbivore control without pesticides (plant defence response) or increased production without fertilizers (plant overcompensatory response). We showed that low to intermediate feeding damage by the larvae of the Guatemalan potato moth (Tecia solanivora) led to a 2.5 fold increase in potato tuber production indicating an overcompensatory response from the plant. This response was specifically elicited by compounds in the larval regurgitant. In this follow up project I want to identify the elicitor compound in the larval regurgitant that leads to an increased potato production and to determine if the overcompensatory response found in the potato variety studied is also present in other potato varieties. This extension of the study does not only explore the potential agricultural applicability of an herbivore derived elicitor to increase potato yield but does also allow new insights into the understanding of herbivore-induced plant responses.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: USA