Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus, Germar) is a major pest in East African Highland Banana. The influence of crop nutritional status on weevil damage is poorly understood. Nutrient availability affects the nutritional quality of plants for weevils and may affect weevil damage. Here, we evaluate the effect of insecticides alone and in combination with fertilisers (N, P, K and Si) on weevil damage using data from two experiments in central and southwest Uganda. In the first experiment, we varied chlorpyrifos and application rates of N, P and K. In the second experiment, we varied the application rates of K and Si. Treatment effects were analysed using generalised linear mixed models with a negative binomial distribution. In the first experiment, chlorpyrifos reduced and N increased weevil damage, while P and K had no significant effect. In the K or Si application rates reduced weevil damage compared with the control. We conclude that the combined application of chlorpyrifos with K and Si fertilisers can contribute to weevil damage control on sites with low nutrient availability and should form part of integrated weevil management in bananas. Future studies should assess how much reduction in insecticide use is possible in EAHB with judicious input rates.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282493

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Godfrey Taulyahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5690-0492

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282493

Natural Resource Management

Agronomy; Banana; Disease Control; Food Security; Pests of Plants; Plant Breeding; Plant Diseases; Plant Production

Bananas; Food Security; Plant Diseases; Pests of Plants; Uganda

Africa; East Africa

Uganda

Eastern Africa Hub

PLoS ONE