Index of Volume 61Index

Editorial Office

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4)  

Revealing the challenges and prospects of Asian rice gall midge resistance in riceReview

Sivasubramaniyan Sathishkumar, Loganathan Arul, Swaminathan Manonmani, Sheela Venugopal, Jagadeesan Ramalingam

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):305-325 | DOI: 10.17221/159/2024-PPS  

The Asian rice gall midge (Orseolia oryzae) (Wood-Mason) is a major pest of rice, significantly reducing yields and challenging sustainable rice production. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the biology, lifecycle and geographical distribution of the rice gall midge, along with the damage symptoms it causes in rice crops. The interactions between rice and gall midge, the pest's infestation mechanism and the plant’s defensive responses are also explored. Various management strategies are discussed in detail, including insecticides, cultural practices and resistant varieties. The review emphasises that breeding for resistance,...

Monilinia fructigena air detection by two different rotorod samplers combined with quantitative real-time PCROriginal Paper

Miloň Dvořák, Dagmar Stehlíková, Tomáš Litschmann

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):326-332 | DOI: 10.17221/91/2024-PPS  

The brown rot of apple and stone fruits caused by Monilinia fructigena is a widespread disease causing serious losses in fruit production. The most common way the pathogen spreads is via airborne conidia. Therefore, air samplers can effectively monitor its occurrence. In this study, we have conducted a comparative sampling of two cheap air samplers – rotorod spore traps called ROTTRAP 52 and AMETRAP. An optimised quantitative real-time PCR assay with a hydrolysis probe evaluated samples. 14 concurrent samplings were positive in all cases, showing higher spore counts in almost all AMETRAP samples obtained under various weather conditions....

Assessing stem rust tolerance in commercial wheat varieties: Insights from field trials in KazakhstanOriginal Paper

Akerke Maulenbay, Aralbek Rsaliyev

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):333-349 | DOI: 10.17221/219/2024-PPS  

This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of stem rust tolerance in commercial wheat varieties from Kazakhstan and Russia, including spring and winter varieties. Field trials were conducted to compare yield and agronomic traits between stem rust-inoculated and fungicide-treated plots, providing a practical framework for assessing tolerance. Key indicators such as disease severity, area under the disease progress curve, thousand kernel weight, and the stress tolerance index were evaluated to gauge variety resilience under stress. Significant variations in tolerance were observed, with varieties such as 'Pamyat' 47', 'Nadezhda', 'Lyubava...

Insights into the morphometric and molecular characterisation of ber fruit fly (Carpomyia vesuviana Costa) infesting jujube ber, Ziziphus mauritiana (Lamk.)Original Paper

Palanivelu Kavin, Balakrishnan Usharani, Pagadala Damodaram Kamala Jayanthi, Krishnasamy Suresh, Gandhi Gracy, Sandeep Singh, Nanchil Richard Kennady, Madhavan Lysal Mini, Chelvi Ramessh

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):350-365 | DOI: 10.17221/176/2024-PPS  

Carpomyia vesuviana Costa, a fruit fly species, is a major pest affecting the jujube (Ber). This monophagous insect pest causes significant economic losses in regions where the jujube is cultivated. Hence, the present study was conducted to provide a detailed morphometric and molecular analysis of C. vesuviana across various Indian regions, specifically Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Rajasthan. Morphometric measurements were conducted for various developmental stages, from the egg to adult. The overall mean length and width of the egg were 0.61 mm and 0.18 mm, respectively, and the fully grown maggot measured 6.19 mm (length) and 1.91 mm...

Using thermal time to predict the timing of flight activity in Noctuidae (Lepidoptera) species: Calculation and verification of forecast methodsOriginal Paper

Alois Honěk, Zdenka Martinková, Ivo Novák, Terezia Jauschová, Lenka Sarvašová, Miroslav Saniga, Milada Holecová, Ján Kulfan, Peter Zach

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):366-377 | DOI: 10.17221/150/2024-PPS  

From 1967 to 1995, the flight activity of 25 monovoltine species of moths (Noctuidae, Lepidoptera) was monitored via a light trap located in Prague (50.09 N, 14.30 E). For each species, the day when half of the individuals were caught (peak of flight activity, PFA) was specified each year. This study addresses a method of predicting the calendar date of the PFA via thermal time. We determined a base temperature of +6 °C, at which the differences between the predicted and actual dates of the PFA were minimal. For each species and each year, the sum of the degree days exceeding the base temperature from January 1 to the date of the PFA (SumT) was...

Comparison of different modeling approaches to estimate cardinal temperatures for germination of Persicaria lapathifolia, Polygonum aviculare and Solanum nigrumOriginal Paper

Donato Loddo, Stefano Carlesi, Nebojša Nikolić, Roberta Masin

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):378-386 | DOI: 10.17221/175/2024-PPS  

Emergence predictive models can facilitate weed management, but estimating cardinal temperatures for germination of target species is necessary. Germination tests at a range of alternating temperatures from 12.5/2.5 °C to 35/25 °C were conducted to estimate cardinal temperatures of Persicaria lapathifolia (L.) Delarbre, Polygonum aviculare L. and Solanum nigrum L. Two statistical methodologies were tested: the Thermal time-to-event model (TTEM) and the Threshold limit model (TL). Germination of P. aviculare was maximum at low-mid temperatures, where its optimal range probably lies, and decreased at high temperatures....

Isolation and Identification of herbicidal active substances of Botrytis strain HZ-011Original Paper

Haixia Zhu, Liang Cheng, Yongqiang Ma

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):387-396 | DOI: 10.17221/183/2024-PPS  

The herbicidally active Botrytis strain HZ-011 was isolated from naturally infected leaves of Rumex patientia L., and previous studies found that strain HZ-011 exhibits highly effective herbicidal effects against the broadleaf weeds Amaranthus retroflexus L., Elsholtzia densa Benth, Malva crispa, and Chenopodium album L. In this study, the active components of strain HZ-011 were isolated, purified, and structurally characterised using silica gel column chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography. The extraction test was carried out using four organic solvents...

An evaluation of two counting methods to establish rodent densities in crop fieldsOriginal Paper

Marta Heroldová, Eva Jánová, Jan Zejda, Jan Šipoš, Josef Suchomel

Plant Protect. Sci., 2025, 61(4):397-406 | DOI: 10.17221/65/2024-PPS  

The common vole (Microtus arvalis) is the main pest in agricultural areas of Central Europe. It is particularly important to monitor its numbers during spring, and if high numbers are detected, some form of pest management should be considered. In the Czech Republic, the number of active burrows is monitored using the burrow index, BI, which allows estimation of the total number of rodents, saves time and is easy to use. We aimed to assess the relationship between the burrow index and the relative abundance of the rodent species examined by snap trapping in crop fields. Bayesian MCMC algorithms with a zero-inflation model were used for this...