Impact of Solenopsis geminata pest (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), the tropical fire ant on soybean (Glycine max) production in Littoral, Cameroon

Abstract

In Ndog-bong and Mboppi, soybean was planted at three replication on three different plots: one of these plots was non-infested, while the other two were infested with 124 190 and 186 285 workers of Solenopsis geminata respectively. Comparison was done between the infested plots and the non-infested one on seed germination, plant density, nodule number and yield. The data collected showed that, the four studied parameters decreased with the increasing of Solenopsis geminata foragers in the infested plots. The germinating rate of soybean seeds was 48.82%, 28.77% and 22.41% in the non-infested, slightly infested and heavily infested plots respectively. Plant density was 40.04%, 33.07% and 26.89% in the non-infested, slightly infested and heavily infested plots respectively. Nodule number was 38.36%, 32.63% and 29.01% in the non-infested, slightly infested and heavily infested plots respectively. Yield was 1.36t/ha, 0.82t/ha and 0.60t/ha in the non-infested, slightly infested and heavily infested plots respectively. In conclusion, direct feeding of Solenopsis geminata on seeds, seedlings and plant root reduced plant density and caused an important reduction of soybean yield.