Mite pests in plant crops: Current issues, inovative approaches and possibilities for controlling them

Abstract

In the middle of the last century, mites moved into the focus of attention as pests relevant to agriculture, forestry and landscape horticulture, presumably in direct reaction to the 'green revolution' that involved plant cultivation in large-plot monocropping systems, improved methods of cultivation, selection of high-yielding cultivars and intensified use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers. Agroecosystems in which phytophagous mites have become harmful organisms are primarily orchards, vineyards, greenhouses, urban greeneries, plant nurseries and stored plant products, as well as annual field crops to a somewhat lesser degree. Phytophagous mite species belong to a variety of spider mites (Tetranychidae), false spider mites (Tenuipalpidae), gall and rust mites (Eriophyoidae), tarsonemid mites (Tarsonemidae) and acarid mites (Acaridae). Most of these harmful species are widespread, some of them having more economic impact than others and being more detrimental as depending on various specificities of each outdoor agroecosystem in any particular climatic region. The first segment of this overview focuses on the most significant mite pests of agroecosystems and urban horticultural areas in European countries, our own region and in Serbia today, primarily on species that have caused problems in recent years regarding plant production, and it also discusses various molecular methods available for investigating different aspects of the biology of phytophagous mites. Also, acaricides are discussed as a method of controlling mite pests in the light of the current situation and trends on pesticide markets in Serbia and the European Union member-countries.

Značaj grinja kao štetočina u poljoprivredi, šumarstvu i pejzažnoj hortikulturi uočen je sredinom prošlog veka i smatra se direktnom posledicom 'zelene revolucije', odnosno gajenja biljaka u monokulturi na velikim površinama, poboljšanih metoda uzgoja, selekcije visokorodnih sorti, intenzivne primene pesticida i mineralnih đubriva. Agroekosistemi u kojima su fitofagne grinje postale štetne su pre svega voćnjaci, vinogradi, zaštićen prostor (staklenici i plastenici), urbano zelenilo, rasadnici i uskladišteni proizvodi, a u nešto manjoj meri i jednogodišnji njivski usevi. Fitofagne grinje sreću se među paučinarima (Tetranychidae), pljosnatim grinjama (Tenuipalpidae), galiformnim i rđastim grinjama (Eriophyoidae), tarzonemidama (Tarsonemidae) i akaridama (Acaridae). Većina štetnih vrsta je široko rasprostranjena, ali neke su ekonomski značajnije od ostalih i ispoljavaju različitu štetnost u zavisnosti od specifičnosti agroekosistema u različitim klimatskim područjima, kada su u pitanju biljne vrste gajene u otvorenom polju. U prvom delu rada obrađene su najznačajnije štetne vrste grinja u agroekosistemima i urbanoj hortikulturi u evropskim zemljama, zemljama u okruženju i u Srbiji danas, pre svega vrste koje su u poslednje vreme postale problem u biljnoj proizvodnji, uz osvrt na primenu molekularnih metoda u proučavanju različitih aspekata biologije fitofagnih grinja. Takođe, ukazano je na mogućnosti suzbijanja štetnih grinja akaricidima, imajući u vidu stanje i perspektive tržišta pesticida u Srbiji i zemljama članicama Evropske unije.