Management Tactics To Control Cucurbit Yellow Stunting Disorder Virus

Posted by Rosemary Gordon|November 10, 2015

Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) is a threat to growers in Arizona and California. According to a University of Arizona Vegetable IPM Update, the virus was initially found in desert melons in 2006. The result was a widespread infection on several melon types including cantaloupes, honeydews, and others.

The sweetpotato whitefly transmits CYSDV to fall melons throughout the growing areas of Arizona and southern California. According to John Palumbo, a professor and Extension specialist at the University of Arizona, CYSDV has caused significant reductions in yields and is the reason growers have had to increase insecticide applications in fall melons.

Managing CYSDV has been somewhat effective, and is achieved through chemical controls that rely heavily on soil- and foliar-applied neonicotinoid, pyrethroid, and organophosphate insecticides with the goal of suppressing whitefly adults and reducing secondary spread of CYSDV incidence in melons.

According to Palumbo, the latest research indicates fall melons grown near cotton or near areas where spring melons were recently produced are at the highest risk of becoming infected. Growers should set a goal of trying to keep fall melon plantings as far from whiteflies and CYSDV.