Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum) is a perennial herbaceous vegetable with medicinal qualities. Unfortunately, Chinese chive crops are severely damaged by the soil insect Bradysia cellarum. B. cellarum are mainly found in the surface soil to a depth of 5 cm. Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Investigator Youjun Zhang and his team showed that thermal treatment of B. cellarum adults, eggs, larvae, and pupae at 40 °C for 3 hours produced mortalities of 100%, 100%, 100% and 81%, respectively, and the fecundity of B. cellarum significantly decreased with increasing temperature and exposure time, completely inhibiting egg-laying at 37°C for 2 hours. These data suggested that B. cellarum is quite sensitive to elevated temperatures. As long as soil temperature to a depth of 5 cm is increased and remains over 40°C for 4 hours, the mortality rate of B. cellarum will be 100%. Therefore, the team has been studying how to improve soil temperature without destroying the ecological environment.
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Source: Phys.org