Management of okra jassid (Amrasca biguttula biguttula) through the use of botanicals and chemical pesticides under field conditions in Chitwan, Nepal

Abstract

Jassid (Amarasca biguttula bigutula) is one of the most serious pests of Okra. It sucks the sap from underside of leaves and causes upward curling along the margin ultimately reducing the yield. An experiment was conducted in research field of Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in 2019 to analyze the efficacy of different botanical and chemical pesticides in the management of Okra Jassid. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments and four replications. The treatments were Chemical (Chloropyriphos 50% EC and Cypermethrin 5% EC) (2 ml/l), Neem (Azadirachta indica) extract (2 ml/l), Ganja (Cannabis sativa) extract (100 g/l), Jholmol (125 ml/l) and untreated control. The pest population was found lowest with the use of chemical pesticide (1.9, 12.24, 24.45 after the first, second and third spray respectively). The effect of neem, jholmol and ganja were statistically at par in suppressing Jassid population after the first spray. However, among biopesticides, Neem extract was significantly most effective after the second and third treatment. Cannabis extract was the least effective after the third treatment among the insecticides but significantly reduced the pest population than the controlled treatment. This research has given emphasizes on biopesticides as they are cheap, locally available, eco-friendly and avoid the problem of pesticide resistance, pest resurgence and pesticide residue. Neem extract was found somehow comparable to the chemical pesticide in reducing pest infestation. Thus, neem extract can be used as an alternative to chemical pesticides with other IPM approaches for the sustainable management of Okra Jassid.