Abstract
Intercropping in cotton is of great significance, which helps to reduce the population of insect pests by attracting natural enemies to the field and helping to get stabilized yield and high profit advantage. The study was conducted with 4 intercrops, viz., sesame, Sesamum indicum L.; pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan L.; pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum L.; and sorghum, Sorghum bicolor L. in an experimental area during 2016 and 2017 autumn season. The objective was to study the population of parasitoids influenced by the intercrops in cotton. This is a triangular relationship between the host, parasitoids, and environment. As Encarsia spp. (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) and Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) are the main parasitoids of insect pests of cotton, thus the study was undertaken on these parasitoids. The results revealed that the highest parasitization of whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) pupae by Encarsia spp., was recorded in cotton-pigeonpea 1:1 (33.22%), which was at par with cotton-pigeonpea 2:1 (32.16%), whereas the second highest one was in cotton-sesame 1:1 (27.33%), while the lowest parasitization was recorded in the control (16.16%). On the activity of Trichogramma spp., the significant highest percent was recorded in cotton-sesame 1:1 (10.93%), while no activity was recorded in cotton-pigeonpea, cotton-sorghum, cotton-pearl millet, and control treatments.
Highlights
Cotton, Gossypium arboreum L., is known as the queen of fibers, and it is the most important commercial crop for raw material needs of the textile industry
To mitigate the losses caused by insect pests, farmers still rely on chemical pesticides as they considerably control the pests, but injudicious use of pesticides has resulted in harm to non-targeted beneficial organisms and the environment (Patil et al 2017)
Similar findings were recorded by Kavitha et al (2003) and Kedar et al (2014) that cotton intercropped with legumes increased the activity of Encarsia in the field
Summary
Gossypium arboreum L., is known as the queen of fibers, and it is the most important commercial crop for raw material needs of the textile industry. It is attacked by several insect pests causing drastic reductions in quality and quantity (Dhaliwal et al 2006). The genus Trichogramma Westwood (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) has the largest number of species in the family Trichogrammatidae They are used worldwide and having the ability to parasitize eggs of many economic lepidopterous pests of cultivated plants (Hassan 1993; Smith 1996; Mills 2010). There is a need to document the effect of habitat manipulation using intercrops along with main crop in sustaining and supporting the parasitoids and subsequently diminish the outbreaks of insect pests
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