Assessment of Trap Crops for Management of Thrips, T. tabaci in Tomato

Abstract

The prospect of four trap crops viz., marigold, okra, sunflower and brinjal were evaluated for their efficiency against thrips, T. tabaci at SASRD, Medziphema, Nagaland University. The study was conducted in Split Plot Design with four treatments having three replications. Tomato was grown on two different planting geometries i.e. 90 x 70 cm (P1) and 60 x 60 cm (P2) and the treatments used as trap crops were indicated as marigold (T1), okra (T2), brinjal (T3) and sunflower (T4), while confining a ratio of main crop to trap crop at 4: 1.The trap crops were transplanted first following the pattern of sequential trap- cropping. Thrips infestations were recorded from the early vegetative stage of tomato and decline in population as the crop matured. All trap crops in the present study showed good performance in the management of T. tabaci. The planting geometry, P2 with okra as a trap crop was observed to be reasonably effective in curbing thrips population in the study period.