Neighborhood pest management of whitefly-transmitted vegetable viruses

Over the last 25 years, the number of whitefly-transmitted viruses affecting fruiting vegetables in Florida and the southeastern U.S. has steadily increased. The most problematic of these include tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), squash vein yellowing virus (SqVYV), cucurbit leaf crumple virus (CuLCrV) and cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus(CYSDV) vectored by the sweetpotato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). At least three factors can explain the increased importance of these viruses and include i) the rise in average wintertime temperatures across the Southeast and concomitant reduction in the number and duration of hard freezes, ii) breeders are constantly playing “catch-up” to develop new varieties with resistance to the multitude of new viruses, and iii) whiteflies have developed widespread resistance to the broad-spectrum insecticides growers rely on for their control. Neighborhood pest management (NPM) will be discussed as a new strategy growers can employ to manage whitefly. NPM is a community approach to pest management and is similar to the better-known areawide pest management, but done on a smaller scale. Strategies for implementation will be discussed.