Effect of Several Vegetable Combinations on The Population of Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) Under Glasshouse Conditions

2 Abstract: The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) has become one of the most important agricultural pests and virus vectors of agricultural and ornamental crops in Malaysia. The objective of this research was to study the effect of combinations among four different vegetable plants; chilli Capsicum annuum, brinjal Solanum melongena, tomato Solanum lycopersicum and okra Abelmoschus esculentus on population abundance of B. tabaci under glasshouse conditions. The results showed that most of the total mean numbers of adults, eggs and nymphs of whitefly were significantly higher (P< 0.05) on brinjal compared with other crops and the lowest mean number of whitefly stages was on chilli. This indicates that mixed crops will lower pest population and could indirectly reduce disease incidence transmitted by the pests.