INFLUENCE OF WATER SALINITY IRRIGATION ON SPIDER MITE INFESTATION AND COTTON LEAVES CONTENTS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

2 Soils and Water Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

Two cotton varieties (Giza 45 and 81) were cultivated in 10kg soil/pot in 1992 and 1993 seasons. Three diluted sea water levels (0 , 10000 and 20000 ppm) were used through the growth stages of the plant : seedling, vegetative, budding, flowering, boiling and maturity. The results showed that under normal water irrigation, two peaks of mite population occurred on cotton plants during the seedling and flowering stages. Giza 45 variety was more susceptible to mite infesta‌tion than Giza 81. Influence of water salinity irrigation on spider mite Tetranychus arabicus Attiah and cotton leaves content were studied. The results revealed that spider mite infestation decreased sharply with the high level of water salinity irrigation. Also the relation between sodi‌um, potassium and nitrogen contents in cotton leaves on the abundance of T.arabicus was investigated as a result of water salinity.