Seleção de introduções do gênero Brachiaria (Griseb) resistantes a Cigarrinha Zulia entreriana (Berg) (Homoptera: Cercopidae).

• Autor(a) principal: VALERIO, J. R.
• Data de Publicação: 1997
• Outros Autores: JELLER, H., PEIXER, J.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da EMBRAPA (Repository Open Access to Scientific Information from EMBRAPA - Alice)
• Texto Completo: http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/321464
• topic: Basilisk; Marandu; Brasil; Spittlebugs; Brachiaria Brizantha; Brachiaria Decumbens; Cigarrinha das Pastagens; Entomologia; Variedade Resistente; Zulia Entreriana; Brazil; entomology; pest resistance

Spittlebugs are the most damaging pasture pests in tropical America where extensive monocultures of Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk have favoured the builup of spittlebug populations. Under servere spittlebug attack, the entire above-ground portion of the plant appears dry and deade, reducing the stocking rates of damaged pasture. Houst plant resistance is a low-cost method of controling spittlebugs, which farmers can easily adopt. High level of spittlebug resistance is found in the cultivar B.brizantha cv. Marandu, but it requires more fertile soils. A Brachiaira germplasm provided by the international Center for Tropical Agriculture and available at the National Center for Beef Cattle Reearch (CNPGC) has been screened for spittlebug resistance. In the present study 30 introductions of Brachiaria were evaluated for resistance to the espittlebug Zulia entreriana (Berg), based on nynphal survival and period. The introductions (BRA 1945, bra 3115 and BRA 3425), all B. brizantha, were selected as resistant. Given the great number of available introductions and even hidrids resulting from the breeding program, this has been done routinely at the CNPGC in the search for sources of resistance.Complementary evaluations aiming the releasing of new spittlebug resistant Brachiaria cultivars are in progress.