Effect of chemical control of whitefly on golden mosaic virus incidence and yield of common bean

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of insecticides on the control of whitefly (Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring, 1994), on golden mosaic virus incidence and on common bean yield. Seed treatment with the insecticides imidachloroprid or thiamethoxam followed by insecticide sprays at weekly internals were used. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design in an irrigated area in Petrolina, PE, Brazil, with five treatments and four replicates. The chemical control decreased significantly the number of eggs, nymphs and adults, and also the percentage of infection by the golden mosaic virus in the bean crop. Grain yields for chemical treatments in the tilled plots ranged from 1,930 to 2,405 kg/ha, while the control yielded 1,490 kg/ha. There were no significant differences for number of pods per plant and for 100-seed weight.