Abstract
The betel vine (Piper betle L.) is one of the plantation crops commercially cultivated for its leaf in South and Southeast Asia. The leaf production is often threatened by different insect pests including Aleurocanthus rugosa Singh (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Currently, infestations of A. rugosa in betel vine are primarily controlled using excessive conventional broad-spectrum chemical pesticides that pose serious human health risks due to the masticatory nature of consumption. This study was carried out to investigate the performance of colored sticky traps and biopesticides against A. rugosa as an ecofriendly approach by conducting multilocation field trials from 2019 to 2021. It was observed that the A. rugosa population prevailed throughout the year, however, insect infestation was higher in May and October due to the high temperature. Among the sticky traps, A. rugosa was highly attracted to the yellow-colored traps compared to white or blue traps. Whereas alternating sprays of either D-lemonine (Bio clean® 5% SL) or spinosad (Success® 2.5% SC) with sodium lauryl ether sulphate (Fizimite® 10%) reduced the A. rugosa population by 71.4–79.0% over control. Further, a combination of these spray regimes with yellow-colored sticky traps as IPM packages showed improved results in reducing pest populations by 83.8–86.0% and increasing leaf yield by 60.4–63.6% over control. Even the performance of the IPM packages was better than farmers’ practice i.e., broad-spectrum chemical pesticides. Thus, the outcome of this study indicates that the IPM program could be a sustainable and environmentally friendly method of controlling A. rugosa in betel vine production.
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