Impact of intercrops and border crops on pest incidence in okra

Abstract

The okra intercropping trial was conducted for management of leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula biguttula), whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and fruit borer (Earias vittella). The results revealed that lowest leafhopper population (5.49 & 2.95/3 leaves/plant) was recorded from the treatment having coriander and maize as intercrop and border crop, respectively during kharif 2010 and 2011. Similarly, whitefly population was lowest (5.89 and 9.07/3 leaves/plant) in marigold intercrop treatment. The pooled average per cent fruit infestation by fruit borer was lowest in the marigold intercrop treatment (9.69) followed by coriander intercropping (12.40) on weight basis. While the sole crop (32.14) recorded the highest per cent fruit infestation. The treatments having maize as border crop and coriander/marigold/mint as intercrop recorded the highest population of natural enemies. The coccinellids per plant was highest in the coriander intercrop treatment (2010:0.67 & 2011:0.76). Higher Shannon-wiener index was found in the same treatment, while sole crop recorded lowest.