Seed damage to different cultivars of pea by the pea moth (Cydia nigricana) and the pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum) in Radzików, Central Poland

Abstract

Two  separate field trials, one with 22 multipurpose white-flowering cultivars  and  second with 8 cultivars of feed pea, were  conducted  to  determine the degree of  damage  to  seeds  caused  by the pea  moth (Cydia nigricana) and pea weevil  (Bruchus pisorum) and to study important agronomic traits of pea cultivars. Damage to pea seeds by the pea  moth and pea weevil was common in the central region. The pea cultivars tested differed in their susceptibility to these two pests, as reflected by the value of  percentage  seed  damage. The percentage of seed damage caused by pea weevil in  this  study was tenfold  higher than that by pea moth. Highly significant effect of years of cultivation on all examined traits was shown. Seeds  damage  by  both  insects  was most  strongly affected by  the precipitation and to lesser extent by mean  daily  temperature during pea  growing seasons.  For the set of white-flowering  cultivars, the correlation between the amount of damaged seed and the amount  of  precipitation  was r = - 0.47 and r= - 0.76 for  pea moth  and pea  weevil  respectively, while in   feed  pea cultivars only for seeds  damaged by pea weevil  a significant correlation (r= -0.84) was found. The second abiotic factor, mean daily temperature had a positive effect on the amount of damaged seeds, particularly caused  by pea weevil in feed pea (r= 0.84). The cluster analysis identified cultivars with the lowest percentage of damaged seeds and high yield performance.