Cent Of Area Research Articles

USE OF INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN HORTICULTURE: A CASE STUDY OF SOPORE

Kashmir Valley has got the potential to produce different varieties of fresh apple crop which contributes state gross domestic product and foreign exchange. Apple fruit is one of the important fresh fruits which alone account 44.10 per cent of area and 90 per cent of production in the union territory. Every year millions of apple boxes are being exported to various parts of country and to some neighbouring countries like Bangladesh from various parts of region. To pick, pack and carry the Apples, every year millions of trees were cut down for the manufacturing of wooden crates. With the introduction of cardboard and plastic crates the grower find some relief as it is cheaper and easy to carry from traditional wooden crates. The present paper will try to find out the benefits and usage of cardboard crates in place of traditional wooden crates for marketing of apple.

Farmers Perception about Impact of Long Term Climate Change on Agriculture in Plain Zone of Chhattisgarh, India


 This investigation was an attempt to capture the extent of local peoples’ perceptions regarding impact of long term climate change on agriculture and allied activities. The study was carried out in four randomly selected districts of Plain Zone of Chhattisgarh State. A total of 240 farmers from twenty four villages of eight blocks were considered as respondents. Data were collected through the personal interview using structured interview schedule prepared in Hindi and also group discussions were conducted among the farmers in each selected village to affirm the response in group about climate change. Based on the multiple responses, out of the total, 183 respondents were growing paddy in irrigated condition and 146 of them were growing paddy in un-irrigated condition. Out of total cultivated area (583.70 ha) paddy was cultivated in 47.56 per cent of area in irrigated condition and 47.28 per cent of area in un-irrigated condition. With regards to various varieties grown by respondents there was drastic change in 15 years, local varieties like Gurmatia, Mundaria, Kanthbhulaw, Nankeshar, Bhejri, Asamchudi etc. were grown by 86.25 per cent of the respondents 15 year back which has confined to only 1.67 per cent of the respondents with varieties like Gurmatia, Nankeshar, Asamchudi etc. Almost half of the respondents believed that due to climate change area of some crops like minor millets, sesame, pigeon pea, maize, jowar etc. in kharif and linseed, lathyrus, lentil etc. in rabi has decreased. Majority of respondents (86.30%) agreed, over the past 15 years migration of birds and animals has increased due to climate change, while, 82.92 per cent believed that climate change has increased drudgery of farmers/farm women. The results indicated that nearly 37 per cent of the respondents perceived medium level of overall impact of long term climate change, while, 34.17 and 29.17 per cent of the respondents reported high to low level of overall impact of long term climate change on agriculture and allied activities.

Forecasting Potato Prices: Application of ARIMA Model

Price fluctuations in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) concern consumers, farmers, and policymakers, and its accurate price prediction is important for all the stakeholders. In India, out of a total of 5.34 million ha of land under vegetables, potato occupies nearly 20.8 per cent of area. India produces 12.3 per cent of world potato production (around 45.34 million tons) and is next only to China. The major potato-producing states are highly concentrated in the Indo-gangetic plains of the country. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar account for 32.4, 26.9 and 14.6 per cent of national production of potato. The present study was designed to forecast the prices of potato in these three major potato-producing states of the country. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average forecasting models - ARIMA (1,0,1) for Varanasi market, ARIMA (2,0,1) for Kolkata market, and the ARIMA (3,0,1) for Patna market were applied. The performance of the ARIMA models produced reliable forecast of prices of potatoes for all three major producing states.

​Impact of Improved Technology in Enhancing Productivity and Income of Paddy Farmers in Assam- An Analysis in Dibrugarh District of Assam

Background: Paddy is a very important agricultural crop of Assam occupying 71.59 per cent of its total net cropped area. Among paddy, Sali paddy occupies 78.21 per cent of total paddy area in the state. Ranjit variety of Sali paddy developed by Assam Agricultural University found to be proven variety having yield potential of 6 ton per hectare in farmer’s field. Hence University did large scale demonstration across the state and results were encouraging. Methods: The present study was an attempt to find out the impact of improved technology in enhancing the productivity and income of paddy farmers in Assam, India. Study was conducted during the year 2021-22. Sample for the study consisted of 88 randomly selected beneficiary farmers of improved technology intervention in Sali paddy cultivation undertaken by Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat in Dibrugarh district with proven variety Ranjit. Result: The study revealed that there was increase of productivity of Sali paddy by 2 times, gross return and net return by 3.48 times and 50.37 times, respectively, due to the adoption of improved technology and Benefit-cost ratio was 2.24 with adoption and 0.95 without improved technology. Horizontal spread of technology increased by 61.54 per cent in number and 539.67 per cent in area cultivated. These implied the positive impact of technology intervention in paddy cultivation.

Economics of chemical and non-chemical approaches for induction of early flowering in mango cv. Alphonso

Mango cv. Alphonso is established on more than 90 per cent of area in Konkan region of Maharashtra. Early flowering is for early harvest which assures premium rate in market. In recent years climatic aberrations such as delayed rains especially during initiation of flowering badly affected the performance of Alphonso. The delayed flowering further delay fruit development and harvesting. The late harvested fruits often trapped in early rains and fetches low market price. An attempt was made to estimate benefit ratio and net returns of various non-chemical approaches for mango cv. Alphonso in relation to early induction of flowering which lead to early harvesting to earn lucrative market price. The experiment entitled “Economics of chemical and non-chemical approaches for induction of early flowering in mango cv. Alphonso” which was conducted at college of Horticulture, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli during the year 2018-19 and 2019-20. Experiment was laid out in randomized block design with seven treatments viz., T1- removal of new shoots, T2- removal of old shoots below new, T3- foliar spray of paclobutrazol @ 500 ppm, T4- foliar spray of paclobutrazol @ 1000 ppm, T5- foliar spray of ortho-phosphoric acid @ 0.5 %, T6- foliar spray of ortho-phosphoric acid @ 1 % and T7- control which were replicated at thrice. From the pooled analysis, early induction of flowering was rapid in T1(35.83 days) and had maximum yield (6.19 t/ha), higher gross return (Rs.309657), maximum net profit (Rs.217781.70) and highest B:C ratio (3.37) which was followed by T2 (3.34), T3 (2.99) and T4 (2.75). The minimum yield (2.90 t/ha), gross return (Rs. 124860), minimum net profit (Rs. 65509.20)with minimum B:C ratio were found in control.

Effect of on-farm trials in popularization of rice variety NDLR-7 (Nandyal Sona) in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh

Rice crop is grown in 43934 ha in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh during Kharif and Rabi. The traditional medium slender grain cultivar BPT-5204 is most popularly grown variety during Kharif and occupies 30-40 per cent of area in the district, which is susceptible to BPH and blast resulting in low yields and low net returns. Hence, on farm trials were conducted during 2012-13, 2013- 14 and 2014-15 with objective to assess the performance of new rice variety NDLR-7 which is medium slender short duration (130-135d) variety with tolerance to BPH and blast. During all the three years maximum number of BPH/sample was very low in NDLR-7 than BPT 5204 and maximum collections were recorded in November followed by October month. During all the years the variety recorded 6.1t/ha with average net returns of Rs.76,808/- per ha whereas BPT-5204 recorded 5.83t/ha with average net returns of Rs.68,542/ha. Because of its high yield, pest tolerance and good cooking quality it is widely accepted by farmers through horizontal spread of technology. Due to extension activities of KVK, Kalikiri area under NDLR-7 has been increased from 80ha in 2013-14 to 2000 ha in 2016-17 owing to its tolerance to BPH, fine grain and high market price and first choice of farmers, millers and traders.

Boosting sesame production through frontline demonstrations under rainfed conditions in Pali district of Rajasthan, India

Sesame is an important kharif oilseed crop of India. It occupies about 3.6 per cent of area and 10.8 per cent of production of the total oilseeds production in India. Frontline demonstrations on sesame variety RT 351 were conducted at farmers' fields in district Pali, Rajasthan during kharif 2014-15 to 2018-19. The yield data indicated 36.7 per cent higher mean seed yield in demonstration plots as compared to farmers' traditional practices. The extension gap, technology gap and technology index were 200 kg/ha, 330 kg/ha and 31.4 per cent, respectively. Additional investments of `1320/ha coupled with scientific monitoring of demonstrations and non-monetary factors resulted in additional returns of ` 9459/ha. Fluctuating MSP sale price of sesame during different years influenced the economic returns per unit area. The mean benefit cost ratio over the five year period was 2.1 in demonstrationplots and 1.4 in farmers' practice plots.

Application of Geo-spatial Techniques in Soil Suitability analysis for major crops of Nizamabad District, Telangana

The objective of land use planning is to make decisions on land use in such a way that the natural resources are put to the most beneficial use for man, while ensuring sustainability and conserving ecosystem. Each plant species requires specific soil-site conditions for its optimum growth. For rationalizing land use, the soil-site suitability for different crops needs to be determined. In the present investigation, soil-site suitability evaluation was carried out for paddy, maize, turmeric and mango crops of Nizamabad district of Telangana. The spatial database was generated using IRS-1D LISS-III satellite data. The spatial database and soil properties were integrated and analysed for the evaluation of suitability class of above crops using FAO guidelines in Geographical Information system (GIS) environment. The results indicated that out of total geographical area of 7,06,084 ha of the district 53.5 per cent area was moderately suitable to paddy, 50.6 per cent area was marginally suitable for maize, and 13.1 per cent was moderately suitable for turmeric, while 40.4 per cent of area was marginally suitable for mango.

Studies on rejuvenation of old and senile orchards of Alphonso mango in Konkan region of Maharashtra

Alphonso is the premier mango variety owing to its excellent flavour, aroma, colour and shelf life. It constitutes more than 90 per cent of area 1.82 Lakh hectares of the mango in Konkan region. Majority of orchards are old and senile with low productivity. The attempts were therefore made to develop and standardize the rejuvenation technology for such mango orchards. An experiment was conducted on 40 years old senile mango orchard of mango cv. Alphonso from 2011 to 2015 with two treatments viz., T1-Rejuvenated plants and T2-Non-Rejuvenated plants replicated 13 times in randomized block design. The observations viz., twig girth (cm), avg. leaf area (cm2), rate of photosynthesis (μ mol CO2/m2/sec), rate of respiration (μ mol CO2/m2/sec), length of panicle (cm), breadth of panicle (cm), hermaphrodite flowers (%), number of fruits per plant, yield per plant (kg) and yield per hectare (t) were recorded on both rejuvenated and non-rejuvenated plants from 2013–14 to 2015–16. The rejuvenation technology was also demonstrated on farmers’ field at Katta, Adeli, Nadan in Sindhudurg district and Asore and Mazgaon in Ratnagiri district. High rate of photosynthesis, high hermaphrodite flower percentage (%), more fruits per plant with better fruit weight and higher yield (per plant and per hectare) were recorded in rejuvenated plants as compared to non-rejuvenated plants. The chemical composition of the fruits viz., T.S.S, acidity, Total sugars and reducing sugars were non-significant. Due to rejuvenation there was appreciable reduction in the use of quantity of insecticide, fungicide and human labour in rejuvenated plants. The performance of rejuvenated plants on farmer's field was also better than non-rejuvenated plants.

Economic Efficiency of Input Use in Peach Cultivation in North Western Himalayas

Peach is the most important stone fruit in temperate and sub-tropical areas. Among the stone fruits, peach crop accounts for 49.54 per cent in area and 60.82 per cent production in Himachal Pradesh. A sample of 60 farmers cultivating peach was selected using multistage simple random sampling. Results of the study revealed that literacy rate in the study area were worked out to 82.57 per cent with literacy index of 2.23 indicating low quality of education. Average operational area was found 1.26 ha, out of which orchard area was 0.83 ha and peach plantation accounts for 52.38 per cent. The cultivation of peach component was also seem to be quite important; with its contribution to total household income was 45.54 per cent. It has been observed that fertilizer, FYM and Labour were significantly affecting the production but plant protection chemical was not found significant. It has been observed that Fertilizer, FYM, Plant Protection Chemicals and Labour were found to be significantly under-utilized resources and increase the use of these inputs will increase production. The findings of the study strongly recommend the optimum use of the resources in order to attain desired growth in peach cultivation and ultimately the productivity.

Supply-Demand Gap Analysis and Projection for Major Pulses in India

India is the global leader in terms of production, consumption and import of pulses. The pulses production has been stagnating over the years leading to widening gap between demand and supply. About 20 percent of the total pulses demand is met through imports. The present study is an attempt to analyze the production growth, supply-demand gap and projection of availability of major pulses viz., gram (Chickpea) and tur (Pigeon pea), in India. The highest growth rates in total pulses production was recorded between 1966-67 to 1975-76 period and from 2006-07 to 2015-16 exhibiting 2.05 per cent and 2.62 per cent increase. Gram (Chickpea) recorded the highest production growth between the period from1989-87 to 1995-96 and 2006-07 to 2015-16 and respective figure were 2.78 percent and 2.79 percent. Whereas, tur (Pigeonpea) showed accelerated growth rate of 2.72 per cent in area, 4.30 per cent growth in production during 1976-77 to 1985-86 period. The study found that there is a big gap in supply and demand of major pulses in India, suggesting a shortage of pulse for domestic consumption to the tune of 114.50 lakh tonnes of Gram (Chickpea) and 365.60 lakh tonnes of Tur (Pigeon pea) during 2030.

Comparison for Yield Potential of Chickpea in Front Line Demonstrations and Farmer’s Practices in the Amritsar District of Punjab

Chickpea (gram) is one of the most important legumes largely utilized in India and plays a vital role in improving the soil fertility with addition of nitrogen through biological nitrogen fixation. In Punjab, Gram accounts for only 0.02 per cent of area and 0.03 per cent of production of the country. However, the average yield in Amritsar district is 12.61 qha-1, which is substantially lower. There is great scope for increasing the productivity of chickpea, especially in Amritsar region. Keeping in view this fact, seventy one front line demonstrations were planned by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Amritsar on the improved cultural practices of gram for 5 consecutive years from 2009-10 to 2013-14. The present investigation was carried out across 38 villages in Amritsar (Punjab). Prevailing farmer’s practices were considered as control for comparison with recommended cultural practices for gram. An about of Rs. 16503 was received as net profit under improved practices as compared to Rs. 11645 in farmer’s practice. B: C ratio was 1.27 to 2.02 in demonstrations and in control was 1.11 to 1.77. The conducting the front line demonstrations with improved technologies, yield and net profit from gram crop can be improved to a considerable extent of the farming community.

Yield estimation of coconut in Tumkur district of Karnataka

<p>Coconut in India is cultivated mainly in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh which account for more than 90 per cent of area and production of coconut in the country. With about 10 million people dependent on coconut farming and its allied activities, it contributes to more than 83,000 million rupees to the country’s GDP and about 6 per cent to the edible oil pool. However, there are no precise estimates of its production and productivity. The official statistics on area and production of coconut is being published with two years lag by the Department of Economic and Statistics and hence an assessment of surplus/ deficit production and its repercussion in the coconut market economy could not be made many times. Absence of such statistics at the right time for timely dissemination to stakeholders is considered as an impediment for the development and growth of the industry. Coconut Development Board initiated statistical survey for estimation of production of coconut across major coconut growing states in India by undertaking field surveys and yield estimates based on established phenotypic characters of the buttons/ nuts. The estimation was carried out in Tumkur district of Karnataka also which has the highest area under coconut. A total of 406 farms were surveyed in four taluks of the district covering 4060 bearing palms for productivity estimation. The average number of nuts per palm across all age groups for the district as a whole was 98 nuts. The average productivity for Karnataka which was much below to all India average before 2010-11 saw sudden surge post 2011-12. Questions arise as to what are the underlying factors for such sudden spikes. Across many, data capture, estimation and reporting are critical which go on to determine the decision making process on development and growth of the sector. Decisions are formulated on fixation of prices, trade, planning and execution of welfare schemes and policy making. Hence, scientific estimation initiated by Coconut Development Board on production and productivity augurs well for the sector.</p>

Permafrost Map for Norway, Sweden and Finland

A research-based understanding of permafrost distribution at a sufficient spatial resolution is important to meet the demands of science, education and society. We present a new permafrost map for Norway, Sweden and Finland that provides a more detailed and updated description of permafrost distribution in this area than previously available. We implemented the CryoGRID1 model at 1km2 resolution, forced by a new operationally gridded data-set of daily air temperature and snow cover for Finland, Norway and Sweden. Hundred model realisations were run for each grid cell, based on statistical snow distributions, allowing for the representation of sub-grid variability of ground temperature. The new map indicates a total permafrost area (excluding palsas) of 23 400km2 in equilibrium with the average 1981-2010 climate, corresponding to 2.2 per cent of the total land area. About 56 per cent of the area is in Norway, 35 per cent in Sweden and 9 per cent in Finland. The model results are thoroughly evaluated, both quantitatively and qualitatively, as a collaboration project including permafrost experts in the three countries. Observed ground temperatures from 25 boreholes are within±2°C of the average modelled grid cell ground temperature, and all are within the range of the modelled ground temperature for the corresponding grid cell. Qualitative model evaluation by field investigators within the three countries shows that the map reproduces the observed lower altitudinal limits of mountain permafrost and the distribution of lowland permafrost. (Less)

Land resource assessment for agricultural development in Seoni district (Madhya Pradesh), India

The objective of land resource assessment for rainfed agridevelopment in tribal dominated Seoni ditrict, Madhya Pradesh was to assess the suitability of thrity soil mapping units for sorghum-cotton based systems in relation to fertility constraints and for enhancing crop productivity. The arability and suitability analysis showed that fifty six per cent of arable land is suitable for eleven land use systems. The twenty two per cent of arable basaltic lands in northen plateaus were evaluated as suitable for for citrus, sorghum and soybean cropping systems with limitations of low available nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc whereas in southern precipitous zone , fifteen per cent of granitic lands were evaluated as suitable for sorghum and cotton with limitations of stoniness, low water holding capacity, low status of available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and zinc and eighteen per cent of area in sagar and hirvi river valleys for rice, citrus, maize, sunflower and vegetables. Out of 44.6 per cent of nonarable land, thirty seven per cent of land was evaluated as suitable for forestry / grazing and 6.8 per cent for wild life.The study advocates agroecological zonation for maximum utilization of land resources for potential cropping systems in improving produvtivity and fertility management.

Costs, returns and profitability of soybean cultivation in India: Trends and prospects

Soybean has emerged as a leading oilseed crop in India which accounts for 55.6 per cent of area under kharif oilseeds and 38 per cent of area under total oilseeds during TE 2012–13, 42.5 per cent of total oilseeds production, and contributing to 28.6 percent of the total vegetable oils production in the country. Input use, cost, returns and profitability of soybean cultivation for major soybean growing states was analysed by using CACP data. The results revealed that farmers use higher than recommended seed rate and lower than advised fertilizers and manures, impacting the yield realisation by the farmers. The operational cost of soybean cultivation has increased gradually indicates that soybean cultivation is turning capital intensive. Growth in real cost of cultivation of soybean outpaced the growth in real returns from soybean in all major states. The decrease in price realised was faster than the real cost of production, indicating declining profitability of soybean cultivation, though started improving recently. The inverse relationship in cost of production and productivity of soybean was observed in major growing states. As the productivity of crop is the major factor in reducing the relative cost of production government should focus on the non-price incentives to increase the productivity and also to reduce the cost of cultivation, apart from price incentives.

Cost of cultivation of sugarcane crop in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh

Sugarcane is an important agro industry crop in India plays a pivotal role in national economic by contributing 1.9 per cent to gross domestic product, form an important component in cropping pattern of the sugarcane growers, provide an essential commodity in the form of sugar and jiggery and solves the problem of green fodder for half of the year. The crop is cultivated in 5.03 million hectare producing more than 342 million tones with a productivity of about 70 tonnes per hectare. In India, Uttar Pradesh contributes about 47 per cent in area (1.98 million hectare) and production (117.14 million tonnes) with 47.36 per cent of total sugarcane production. The present study was attempt on, to work out the cost and returns of sugarcane production for different size group of farms in the study area. From the purposively selected district and block on the basis of highest area under the crop. Four villages were selected randomly from the selected block, a complete list of the farmers were prepared and than categorized into four categories i.e. marginal, small, medium and large. From the total sugarcane growers, 100 respondents were selected in probability proportion to their population, for the collection of data, suitable statistical tools were employed to meet the above objective. The cost of cultivation of sugarcane planted was Rs. 172679, in which share of operational cost, land rent and material costs was 38, 22 and 26 per cent, respectively. The cost of cultivation of sugarcane ratoon was to be Rs. 129752.65 with share of operational cost, land rent and material cost of 41, 29 and 14 per cent, respectively.

Marketing pattern and price spread of guava in Punjab

The present study examined the marketed surplus, marketing channels, market margin and price spread of guava in Punjab. Amritsar and Patiala districts with the highest concentration of area under guava were selected purposely. A sample of 60 farmers consisting of 28 and 32 farmers, respectively from the above said districts were randomly chosen. The results revealed that each sample farmer had 2.69 ha of area under guava. The production of guava was estimated to be 487.77 quintals per holding. The marketed surplus was estimated to be 98.33 per cent. It was observed that 79.95 per cent of area was leased out to the contactors, whereas, 20.05 per cent of area was retained by farmers themselves. Most of the pre-harvest contractors dispose of their produce in Delhi market being a biggest market in North India. The producer's share in the consumer's rupee was 51.44 and 51.28 per cent in Amritsar and Patiala markets, respectively when the produce was sold through pre-harvest contractors. The corresponding figures for direct sale were estimated to be 72.68 and 71.26 per cent, respectively for the month of February, 2009.

Production and Marketing Problems of Papaya growers in North Karnataka

Karnataka state, papaya crop occupied an area of 4889 ha and cultivated in 26 districts, out of which 2271 ha area is in northern parts of Karnataka state. In North Karnataka, Gulbarga and Bidar account for 56 per cent of area. However, in recent years papaya growers are facing several production and marketing problems. The problems in production includes non-availability of genuine plant material, high incidence of disease especially viral diseases, etc., have threatened the cultivation of papaya. The present study covers the economics of production and marketing of papaya and identify the problems faced by the papaya cultivator in its cultivation and marketing. It envisages to suggest possible corrective measure to bring about the desired improvement in production and marketing of papaya.

English

The field experiment conducted during Kharif 2008-09 and 2009-10 on evaluation of certain new insecticides indicated that spinosad 0.015 per cent was found most effective in reducing the population of S. dorsalis as well as in increasing yields. It attains highest cost benefit ratio followed by diafenthiuron 0.045%, pymetrozine 0.02% and fipronil 0.01%. Indoxacarb 0.015 % and flubendiamide 0.012 %. Further flubendiamide recorded the lowest mean per cent reduction over untreated check indicating their poor efficacy against S. dorsalis on chillies. th chillies contributing to almost 1/4 of the world's production. In India, chilli is grown in an area of 8.06 lakh ha, with a production of 12.98 lakh tonnes (Agricultural Statistics at a glance, 2009). The important chilli growing states in India are Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and also in a number of other states as a round the year crop. In Andhra Pradesh, chilli is cultivated in an area of 1.89 lakh hectares with a production of 2.08 lakh tonnes. Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh alone contributes to over 35 per cent in area under chilli crop in India. The important pests are thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis (Hood), white mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks), aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover and Myzus persicae Sulzer as sucking complex and tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) and pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) as pod borers (Rao and Ahmed, 1985). Chilli thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis (Hood) (Thysanoptera : Thripidae) is a serious pest of Capsicum annuum L. in India, responsible for leaf curling (Ananthakrishnan, 1971). It multiplies appreciably at a faster rate during dry weather periods and the yield loss caused by the thrips is reported to range from 30-90 per cent (Borah, 1987 and Varadharajan, 1994). Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh is traditionally a chilli growing district with an area of 63,573 ha with high input usage under monocropping conditions. Further, intensive cultivation of input responsive high yielding varieties and hybrids and sole reliance on insecticides are the common features of chilli cultivation in Guntur district. The excessive dependence on insecticides, their over use and abuse has accelerated insect control problems through development of insecticide resistance (Reddy et al., 1992), pest resurgence, pesticide residues (Joia et al., 2001), reduction in natural enemy population and environmental contamination. Moreover, several of the chilli consignments meant for export were rejected stating higher insecticide residues being the culprit, thus lots of foreign exchange lost by way of rejections. Further there were several reports from farmers experiencing difficulties in pest control. Many conventional insecticides are being used to manage these pests with which many folds of resistance was reported in pests like S. litura (Prasad et al., 2008), Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) (Wang et al., 2002), H. armigera (Kranthi et al., 2002) etc. The occurrence of insecticide resistance strains can be reduced or delayed by reducing the selection