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Preventive Control

Natural enemies

Predators

  1. Lacewing
  2. Minute pirate bug

Monitoring

To monitor for thrips, shake leaves and flowers gently onto a white sheet of paper or into a shallow carton box. The general recommended economic threshold level is: 20% of the plant population is infested with thrips. Count the number of plants with thrips and not the actual number of thrips (CIIFAD, 1995).

Management and cultural practices

  1. Crops which are sensitive to thrips attack should not be planted following onions. Volunteer onion plants that attract thrips should be removed.
  2. Sunflower, cosmos, alfalfa, and dill are companion crops that divert the attention of thrips. In the Cordilleras (Philippines), planting green onions as a trap crop and intercrops of cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, and carrot fields has been successfully practiced.
  3. Keep plants well irrigated. Lack of water increases the susceptibility of plants to thrips damage.
  4. Prune off and remove heavily infested plant parts.
  5. Remove weeds as the thrips population builds-up on them.
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