Kasifa Katono, Sarina Macfadyen, Christopher Abu Omongo, Thomas Lapaka Odong, John Colvin, Jeninah Karungi, Michael Hilary Otim
High populations of species in the whitefly complex Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) were reported to cause severe damage to cassava in East and Central Africa. However, reasons for population increases are not well understood. We investigated the effect of cassava morphological traits, temperature, rainfall and relative humidity (RH) on the abundance of . Five cassava genotypes with varying levels of resistance to cassava mosaic disease, cassava brown streak disease, and infestation were planted in three Ugandan agro-ecological zones. The experiment was conducted in 2016 and 2017 in a randomized complete block design. Across all locations, the tallest genotype Alado alado supported the lowest number of adults. In areas with high prevalence, leaf area, leaf lobe width, and leaf lobe number exhibited significant positive effects ( < 0.001) on adult count. Positive effects of relative humidity and negative effects of temperature and rainfall on adult and nymph counts were observed in 2016 and 2017, resulting in low populations in Lira. Evidently, temperatures of 28-30 °C, rainfall of 30-150 mm and RH of 55-70%, and deployment of cassava genotypes of low plant height, large leaf area, and lobe width significantly enhanced population growth.
