Abstract
Several plant species and their compounds are well-known to have some pesticidal properties against a wide range of insect pests. Potential of two water plant extracts, Azadirachta indica A. Juss and Melia azedarach L., in comparison with the synthetic pyrethroid bifenthrin against sucking insect pests and their associated predators, as well on the yield in Bt cotton, was evaluated. The population of the sucking insect pests was found lowest in the positive control (only bifenthrin application). The A. indica extract reduced the pest population equivalent to the positive control, but the highest populations were observed in both negative controls (only water and 0.1% soap with water application). The M. azedarach did not show any harmful effect on the insect population. The predators’ abundance was higher in the plots where botanicals were applied, while the lowest population was observed in the bifenthrin treatment. In comparison to the negative control (only water application), (63.4%) cotton yield was increased by the application of A. indica and (58.8%) by the application of the synthetic insecticide. Using plant extracts of A. indica to control sucking insect pests of cotton can be as effective as synthetic insecticides in terms of crop yield beside they are safer for natural enemies in the field.
Highlights
The genetically modified crops have been cultivated and adopted by the farmers worldwide including Pakistan
The results showed that the botanicals and bifenthrin insecticide had significant effect on the population of whitefly (F = 206.6), jassid (F = 30.2), and aphid (F = 15.06) at (P < 0.05)
The population of all three insect pests was found lower by the application of synthetic insecticide; the results were comparable in case of A. indica treatment
Summary
The genetically modified crops have been cultivated and adopted by the farmers worldwide including Pakistan. In Pakistan, it was introduced in 2005 to mitigate the resistant strains of some lepidopterous insect pests (Sabir et al 2011) with minimizing the insecticidal applications. Reducing the synthetic insecticides use against lepidopterans led to the increasing populations of sucking insect pests (Naranjo 2011). In Pakistan, the economic sucking insect pest complex in cotton include the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius; the aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover; The cotton growers mostly rely on synthetic insecticides to manage the sucking insect pests. It has been reported that this insecticide is very effective against different insect pests in cotton, vegetables, fruits, and in public health for the control of mosquitoes (Reddy and Rao 2002; Gupta et al 2009).
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