Geotechnologies applied in the monitoring of mealybug in the black pepper cultivation in the South of Bahia

The behavior of insect pests within the agricultural system represents a strategy for integrated pest management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the pattern of spatial and temporal distribution of mealybugs in black pepper crop with the use of applied geotechnologies. The study was conducted in an area of 26 hectares with black pepper cultivation, using a grid samples with 96 points. Notes were assigned according to the infestation of the mealybugs, with the presence, formation of colonies and/or dispersion in the plant. The data were grouped by season and submitted to the Lilliefors test at 5%. The ordinary kriging method was used for phytotechnical and orbital variables, and indicator kriging for infestation data. Drone images were used to calculate the aerial indexes and to obtain the leaf area of each plant. With satellite images, the vegetation index and surface temperature were obtained. Climatic data were associated with phytotechnical, spectral and monitoring variables, using principal component analysis, when it was found that cochineal infestation levels are directly associated with the summer season and with NDVI and GLI index with a correlation above of 0.90. It was observed that the insect presents random distribution. The spatial-temporal distribution of GLI and the maximum indices occur in the winter and spring seasons. From the probability of occurrence map, the spring and summer seasons presented more favorable conditions for the occurrence of mealybugs in the planting of black pepper.