In India rubber plantations play a major role in the proliferation of Aedes albopictus. Please check my publications for more details.
Here in Mysore District- the neighboring township of Mandya has the most serious outbreaks of Dengue every year- one of the main factors promoting mosquito growth are the very many sugarcane fields in that town. So the epidemics there last at least 2-3 cycles per year.
Where do Aedes mosquitoes breed in sugarcane fields? Have you done some studies?
I could not do studies in that field because my field of work is clinical medicine.I can only provide a probable explanation for the chain of events - which would require validation by field experts.
A very interesting study was in fact conducted by lundquist et al - http://www.mimosq.org/presentations/2013/6MatthewLundquistJaponicusTriseriatus.pdf .
You can definitely check this study out- as it clearly demonstrates that nitrogen levels had a positive effect on the growth and maturity of the aedes species- therefore you may have successive generations of mosquitoes completing their life cycles faster, and propagating offspring at a faster rate.
In this case- the township of mandya - has both paddy and sugarcane fields. If you take a look at both these crops- patterns of irrigation are quite different - one requires standing water- while the other does not. However- the common binding factor for both of these is the amount of fertilizer used.
Mandya interestingly has very very weak rainfall- but it does have the mighty river Cauvery flowing through it. Farmers have dug out channels, and depend quite a lot on standing water sources and collections to ensure irrigation for their farms.
Now here we have a perfect combination of factors for mosquito growth.
Probably this might be the reason that Mandya has the longest epidemic of dengue year after year.
An entomological study in that area would be really interesting. I really would like to have a look.
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