Pod Borer Research Articles

Occurrence and Diversity of Insect Pests Attacking BU Mung Bean4

The study was conducted during March to June 2021 in the field and laboratory of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur to know the prevalence of the insect pests and their status on mung bean variety BU Mung- 4. In total 12 species of insects were found as pest, of which 4 species were hemipteran, 3 species were lepidopteran, 2 species were coleopteran, 2 species were dipteran, and one species was thysanopteran. Pod borer (84.4%), flea beetles (66.6%), thrips (48.8%), jassid (37.7%) and whitefly (25.2%) were found as major pests. Leaf miner, aphid, epilachna beetle, green stink bug, hairy caterpillar and stem fly were categorized as minor pests having 13.3%, 8.8%, 17.7%, 2.2%, 15.5%, 11.1% infestation, respectively. The pest insects were most abundant in middle April (94.9±6.1) when the plants were at seedling to pre-flowering. Both the richness and diversity of the insect pests were the maximum during early May (1.2±0.1 and 1.7±0.1, respectively). The abundance did not show any change in relation to temperature and relative humidity but influenced only by the growing stages of the crop.Ann. Bangladesh Agric. (2021) 25 (2) : 77-85

Impact of climate change (elevated CO2 and temperature) on growth and development of cowpea pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Climate change has a widespread influence on agricultural productivity and relies upon the fact that responses vary between crops. Any changes in the nutritional quality of the host plant will have direct influences on associated insect pests and the damage that it causes. In this context, a study was conducted to measure the impact of elevated CO2 and temperature on the growth and development of cowpea (C3 plant) and its herbivore pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) under open top chambers at the Center for Agro-climatic Studies, UAS, Raichur, Karnataka. Elevated CO2 had a positive impact on cowpea growth by encouraging crop boom along with vital changes in its phytochemistry. The increased supply of CO2 resulted in higher concentrations of ‘C’ and C-based metabolites and chlorophyll (39.81 µg/cm2) and nitrogen balance index (104.52). However, ‘N’ and N-based compounds were reduced. Larvae fed upon such nutrient-deficient food increased their development period (36.07 ±0.42days) and compensatory feeding inflicting more damage (7.72 webbings/plant). Although the larvae consumed more food, it decreased the body weight of the larvae and pupae, which in turn decreased the percent moth emergence, ultimately decreasing the fecundity (60.09 ± 0.20/female) and fitness of the pest in the long run.

Insect fauna of soybean at different growing seasons: A comparative study

Present investigation was a field experiment to document the insect pests of soybean at different growth stages during rabi-summer season of 2020-21 and comparing them with the Kharif season pests in order to know the incidence pattern. Among sucking pests, leaf hoppers and thrips were causing considerable damage while whiteflies and aphids considered as minor during rabi and summer. Leaf miner and leaf folder were considered as major defoliators during rabi-summer which are replaced by Spodoptera litura and Bihar hairy caterpillar in Kharif. Among the pod borers Etiella zinckenella and Cydia ptychora were major and caused considerable damage during summer and Kharif, respectively. Stem fly was absent during early rabi while it was present in late rabi, Kharif and summer. The insect pest incidence spectrum varied in different growing seasons of soybean crop in this region.

The Chickpea Pod Borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner): Yield Loss Estimation and Biorational Insecticide Assessment in Morocco

Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) is considered one of the most destructive insect pests of chickpea crops in Morocco; however, the extent of the yield loss it causes in Morocco is unknown. This study assessed the yield losses and pod damage caused by the chickpea pod borer H. armigera on four improved Kabuli varieties with insecticide treatment at two different locations. The second part of this study investigated the contact and systemic toxicity of different biological and selective insecticides in the control of the larvae of H. armigera under controlled laboratory and field conditions. The results demonstrated that the yield losses due to H. armigera infestation were in the range of 14.3–31.2%. Chickpea pod borer infestation resulted in losses in the total seed weight for all the chickpea varieties, with the highest yield losses for Zahor (F84-145C) being 31.18% at Allal Tazi followed by Farihane (F84-79C) with 27.38% at the Marchouch station. Emamectin benzoate at 250 g/ha showed a high level of larvicidal and systemic activity, with 100% mortality 24 h after application. Indoxacarb at 25 mL/100 L water, recorded 100% and 92% larval mortality in larvicidal and systemic activity, 48 h after application, respectively. The bioinsecticide spinosad in 30 mL/100 L water resulted in 88% and 92% larval mortality in contact and systemic activity, 48 h after application, respectively. Under field conditions, the two insecticides emamectin benzoate and indoxacarb were found to be highly effective in reducing the H. armigera larval population and pod damage after two sprays. Both insecticide treatments significantly increased grain yields compared with the untreated plots, with 25.8% and 24.5%, respectively. These findings showed that two applications of the selective chemical insecticides emamectin benzoate or indoxacarb with a week interval starting from the pod setting could be incorporated into the management strategies for the control of H. armigera.

Cytogenetics and Crop Improvement Studies in Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]: A Review

Pigeonpea has 2n= 2x= 22 chromosomes with length ranging from 5.73±1.15 μm to 10.92±2.69 μm. The largest long arm of chromosome pair (q) was 6.22±1.05 μm, while the shortest measured 3.37±0.83 μm. The longest short arm chromosome pair was 4.70±1.65 μm, while the shortest measured 2.37±0.43 μm. Metacentric and submetacentric chromosomal shapes exist in pigeonpea, but metacentric dominating. Pigeonpea’s karyotypic formula is 2n= 2x= 9m+2 sm. In pigeonpea, regardless of maturity groups, the main and foremost goal is to breed for higher yield/area/time. Resistance to diseases including wilt, sterility mosaic, phytophthora and alternaria blights, as well as insect pests like pod borers and pod flies, is being bred for. Resistance to abiotic stresses like drought tolerance can be achieved by osmotic adjustment (OA), dehydration tolerance and relative water content (RWC). Reduced Na and Cl translocation from root to stem, osmoprotectants and the optimal leaf area index (LAI) for salinity tolerance. Many outstanding varieties has been developed in pigeonpea through germplasm selection, pedigree breeding, mutation breeding and Heterosis breeding.

Prediction of plant pest detection using improved mask FRCNN in cloud environment

According to the Indian Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO), agricultural plants can disrupt the prospect of a worldwide productivity loss of about 20–40%. To avoid these overwhelming insect plants and increase crop yield, smart farming for farmers was developed using modern technology with Artificial Intelligence (AI).The foremost objective of this paper is to apprehend the advanced application for operational agricultural plantonline recognition on plant open fields such as greenhouses and large farms. This paper proposes Deep Learning (DL) for experts and agriculturalists with a help of an innovative mobile application to control the insects which affect plants. Improved MaskFaster Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network (IMFR-CNN) method proposed for developing technologically advanced application exploits to undertake the recognize exhaust of insect plants in Cloud Computing (CC). Additionally, for mentoring the farmers, the planticides database was maintained to suggest theplanticides andprovide the details of the spotted crop plants to the farmers. Four groups of plantsGram pod borer, Tobacco caterpillar, Whitefly, Spider mites, and Root-knot nematode are considered in this research.The proposed IMFRCNN model evaluated and produces the maximum accuracy of 99.0% for every confirmed plant image for detecting the plant disease at an earlier stage than the existing methods such as Back Propagation (BP) and Single Shot Multi-Box Detector (SSD) DL method.

Farmers’ Perceptions and Knowledge of Country Bean (Lablab purpureus L.) Insect Pests, and Diseases, and Their Management Practices, in Bangladesh

Country bean (Lablab purpureus L.), a popular vegetable in Bangladesh, is severely affected by insect pests and diseases. Farmers’ perceptions of insect pests, diseases, and their management are critical constraints to the establishment of an effective and sustainable pest management approach for this crop. A comprehensive survey was conducted with 300 country bean farmers from six districts of Bangladesh to assess farmers’ perceptions and knowledge of the insect pests and diseases of country bean, and their management practices. The survey results show that country bean farmers have been facing varying pest problems for more than ten years. They could identify eight pests and only one beneficial insect species in their fields, including thrips and jute weevil, as new pests. Among the pests, aphids and pod borers were common in all surveyed areas. More than 80% of farmers said their bean plants were severely affected by bean yellow mosaic virus and white mold diseases. Farmers also mentioned that insect pests and diseases together caused 30–40% yield losses of this crop. About 76% of the farmers solely depended on different chemical pesticides for the production of country bean. Growers frequently used insecticides from the organophosphorus and neonicotinoid groups, and fungicides from the triazole group, to manage pests associated with this crop. Farmers start applying pesticides from the seedling stages, at three-day intervals, maintaining only two- to four-day pre-harvest intervals (PHI). Our findings provide insight into the importance of developing sustainable pest management approaches for country bean production in Bangladesh.

SURVEI SEBARAN DAN TINGKAT SERANGAN PENGGEREK BUAH KAKAO DAN BUSUK BUAH KAKAO DI KABUPATEN JAYAPURA

Cocoa is one of the important plantation commodities in supporting the Indonesian economy, but the last few years have shown a decline in production. The cause of the decline in production is the lack of maintenance of cocoa plants which results in many plants being attacked by pests and diseases and has an impact on decreasing the quality and quantity of cocoa. This study aims to determine the distribution and level of attack of the cocoa pod borer and cocoa pod rot in Jayapura District. The research was conducted by direct observation on people's cocoa fields in cocoa planting centers in Jayapura Regency, namely Yapsi District, Nimbokrang District, and Namblong District in September - October 2020. Determination of the sample using purposive sampling method by taking 10% sample plants. Each district selected three farmers as sample farmers in different villages. The results showed that the highest cocoa pod borer attack occurred in Nimbokrang District, Bunyom Village with an attack intensity of 76%, the percentage of damaged beans was 75.72% and yield loss was 7.60%. The lowest incidence of cocoa pod borer attack was found in SP 5, Yapsi District with an attack intensity of 8.89%, damaged beans 14.13% and yield loss 0.87%. The highest borer attack was on cocoa pods located on secondary branches. The highest attack of cocoa pod rot occurred in SP 4, Yapsi District with an attack intensity of 93.33% and the percentage of fruit being attacked by 93.33%. The lowest incidence of pod rot was found in Rephang Muaib, Nimbokrang District, with an intensity of attack of 9,72% and the percentage of fruit being attacked by 12,50%.

Incidence, Infestation and Role of Weather Factors in Regulating the Population of Flea Beetle (Altica hemensis) on Soybean under Temperate Conditions

Pulses have a strong history of nourishing human beings for centuries together. Soybean (G. max) being an important pulse crop, became vulnerable to a number of insect pests, viz., flea beetle (A. hemensis), pod borer (H. armigera), etc. Since in Kashmir through its intensive cultivation the acreage and production of the crop steadily increased, it is imperative to study the population buildup of the major insect-pests attacking soybean. The incidence of flea beetle, Altica hemensis commenced from 27th Standard meteorological week (SMW) with an average population level of 0.48 beetles per three leaves per plant reached its peak level of 1.75 beetles in 32nd SMW and then decreased and reached 0.24 beetles in 40th SMW. The percentage of flea beetle, A. hemensis infestation ranged from 8-40%, with highest infestation recorded in 33rd and 34th SMW respectively. The incidence of flea beetle revealed positive correlation with maximum temperature (r = 0.45), minimum temperature (r = 0.87), morning relative humidity (r = 0.39), evening relative humidity (r = 0.68) and negative correlation with rainfall (r = - 0.41) and sunshine hours (r = - 0.19). The regression analysis revealed that 88 per cent of flea beetle, A. hemensis population was influenced by weather parameters.

Contribution of Agricultural Landscape Composition on Shaping the Interaction Between Pests and Natural Enemies in Cacao Agroforestry

Studies of the effects of landscape composition on pests and their natural enemies on agroforestry systems is still limited, whereas the system can maintain biodiversity. This research investigated the impact of agricultural landscape composition on shaping the interaction between pests and natural enemies in cacao agroforestry. The study was conducted in twelve cacao plantations spread across five districts in East Java, Indonesia. A sampling of insects was carried out by observing the intensity of pest attacks and the diversity and abundance of predators. The surrounding landscape of the cacao field was characterized by manually digitalizing the land use. The results found two main pests attacking all cacao plantations: cacao pod borer, Conophomorpha cramerella (CPB) with attack intensity 0.72-12.05%, and Helopeltis sp. with attack intensity 12.39-42.24%. Management of cacao plantations, such as intensification and canopy cover, significantly affected the attack intensity of CPB but not Helopeltis sp. Based on the generalized linear model, the landscape composition, especially the patch number of natural habitats, positively impacted CPB attack intensity and predator abundance. However, predator abundance harmed CPB attack intensity. In conclusion, the proportion of natural habitat in agricultural landscapes contributes to reducing the attack intensity of pests via maintaining natural enemy abundance.

Identifying Soybean Pod Borer (Leguminivora glycinivorella) Resistance QTLs and the Mechanism of Induced Defense Using Linkage Mapping and RNA-Seq Analysis.

The soybean pod borer (Leguminivora glycinivorella) (SPB) is a major cause of soybean (Glycine max L.) yield losses in northeast Asia, thus it is desirable to elucidate the resistance mechanisms involved in soybean response to the SPB. However, few studies have mapped SPB-resistant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and deciphered the response mechanism in soybean. Here, we selected two soybean varieties, JY93 (SPB-resistant) and K6 (SPB-sensitive), to construct F2 and F2:3 populations for QTL mapping and collected pod shells before and after SPB larvae chewed on the two parents to perform RNA-Seq, which can identify stable QTLs and explore the response mechanism of soybean to the SPB. The results show that four QTLs underlying SPB damage to seeds were detected on chromosomes 4, 9, 13, and 15. Among them, qESP-9-1 was scanned in all environments, hence it can be considered a stable QTL. All QTLs explained 0.79 to 6.09% of the phenotypic variation. Meanwhile, 2298 and 3509 DEGs were identified for JY93 and K6, respectively, after the SPB attack, and most of these genes were upregulated. Gene Ontology enrichment results indicated that the SPB-induced and differently expressed genes in both parents are involved in biological processes such as wound response, signal transduction, immune response, and phytohormone pathways. Interestingly, secondary metabolic processes such as flavonoid synthesis were only significantly enriched in the upregulated genes of JY93 after SPB chewing compared with K6. Finally, we identified 18 candidate genes related to soybean pod borer resistance through the integration of QTL mapping and RNA-Seq analysis. Seven of these genes had similar expression patterns to the mapping parents in four additional soybean germplasm after feeding by the SPB. These results provide additional knowledge of the early response and induced defense mechanisms against the SPB in soybean, which could help in breeding SPB-resistant soybean accessions.

Evaluation and identification of advanced lentil interspecific derivatives resulted in the development of early maturing, high yielding, and disease-resistant cultivars under Indian agro-ecological conditions.

The genetic base revealed by pedigree records of the majority of released cultivars appears to be narrow in major pulse crops, including lentils, because of the frequent use of the same parents and their derivatives in crop improvement programs. Therefore, corrective measures are needed to widen the genetic base by involving the genetic resources of a distinct gene pool. In this direction, rigorous efforts were made to introgress wild Lens taxa, L. culinaris ssp. orientalis, and L. ervoides into the backgrounds of cultivated varieties. Subsequently, genetic materials were advanced through the single seed descent method of breeding along with a rapid generation advancement (normal and off-season) approach. Two F10:11 interspecific derivatives of lentils were evaluated in augmented block design at two locations, viz. International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), India. The analysis of variance showed remarkable variability for all target characters at both locations. The heritability estimates were high, and correlation analysis exhibited a significant association between the majority of traits assessed at ICARDA and SKUAST, India. Further, SKUAST identified the most promising lines as “Jammu Lentil 144” and “Jammu Lentil 71.” These derivatives were further validated separately for their agronomic potential and resistance against major biotic stresses. The results revealed that Jammu Lentil 144 and Jammu Lentil 71 produced 16.65 and 9.40% more seed yield than local and national checks, including earliness, by 25 and 15 days, respectively. These promising interspecific derivatives were also found to be resistant to fusarium wilt, root rot, pod borer, and aphid infestations. The standard agronomy of these cultivars has also been assessed consecutively for 2 years at SKUAST. Overall, the pre-breeding efforts have resulted in the development of early maturing, high-yielding, and disease-resistant lentil cultivars for the Jammu region of India.

Evaluation of Some Biopesticides against Pod Borer in Garden Pea (Pisum sativum L.) under Natural Conditions of Prayagraj (U.P.)

The experiment was conducted at the research plot of the Department of Agricultural Entomology at the Central Research Farm, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj during the Rabi season of 2021-22. The treatments Selected for this experiment were evaluated against Pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera i.e., Neem oil 2% @ 2ml/lit, Spinosad 45% SC @ 0.2ml/lit, NSKE 5% @ 5ml/lit, Bacillus thuringiensis 4% WSP @ ml/lit, NSKE+HaNPV+Bt @ 1ml/lit, Emamectin Benzoate 5% SG @ 2ml/lit, Beauveria bassiana @ 2ml/lit and Untreated control in RBD with three replications. Results revealed that among the different treatments Emamectin benzoate 5% SG (10.57%) was found to be the most effective treatment in the reduction of H. armigera followed by Spinosad 45% SC (15.21%), NSKE+HaNPV+Bt (9.03%), Beauveria bassiana 1.5% SG (13.98%), NSKE 5% (16.41%), Bacillus thuringiensis 4% WSP (12.00%) and Neem oil 2% (17.32%) was found to be least effective against this pest. Among all the treatments, the cost-benefit ratio has been analyzed, in which the highest was Emamectin benzoate 5% SG (1:4.25) and marketable yield (19.20 q/ha) followed by Spinosad 45% SC (1:3.43 and 16.40 q/ha), and NSKE+HaNPV+Bt (1:3.00 and 14. 60 q/ha), Beauveria bassiana 1. 5 % SG (1:2.80 and 13.25 q/ha), NSKE 5%(1:2.69 and 12.45 q/ha), Bacillus thuringiensis 4% WSP (1:2.55 and 11.80 q/ha) and the lowest was Neem oil 2% (1:2.48 and 11.20 q/ha) have been recorded.

Development of a Kairomone-Based Attractant as a Monitoring Tool for the Cocoa Pod Borer, Conopomorpha cramerella (Snellen) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae).

Simple SummaryWe have investigated the efficacy of five potential kairomone attractants for the cocoa pod borer (CPB) in Indonesia. Among them, the organic lychee flavor extract in a primitive formulation was the most attractive and was competitive with the commercial pheromone lures. An improved kairomone lure formulation based on specialty membrane and the concentrated extracts captured as many CPB males during a 4-week period and was significantly active for as long as 28 weeks. The long-life pheromone lure may be particularly useful in monitoring large-scale cocoa farms and developing new mitigation technologies that would necessitate high longevity powerful attractants. It should provide a cheaper alternative to the pheromone lures.The cocoa pod borer (CPB), Conopomorpha cramerella, is a major economic pest of cocoa, Theobroma cacao, in Southeast Asia. CPB monitoring programs currently use a costly synthetic pheromone lure attractive to males. Field trapping experiments demonstrating an effective plant-based alternative are presented in this study. Five lychee-based products were compared for their attractiveness to CPB males. The organic lychee flavor extract (OLFE), the most attractive product, captured significantly more CPB as a 1 mL vial formulation than unbaited traps, while being competitive with the commercial pheromone lures. Additional experiments show that a 20 mL membrane OLFE lure was most effective, attracting significantly more CPB than the pheromone. When the kairomone and pheromone lures were combined, no additive or synergistic effects were observed. Concentrating the OLFE product (OLFEc) using a rotary evaporator increased the lure attractiveness to field longevity for up to 28 weeks; in contrast, pheromone lures were effective for approximately 4 weeks. The 20 mL concentrated OLFE membrane lures should provide a cheaper and more efficient monitoring tool for CPB than the current commercial pheromone lures.

A Genotype-Independent, Simple, Effective and Efficient in Planta Agrobacterium-Mediated Genetic Transformation Protocol.

Crop improvement under changing climatic conditions is required to feed the growing global population. The development of transgenic crops is an attractive and conceivably the most effective approach for crop improvement with desired traits in varying climatic situations. Here, we describe a simple, efficient and robust in planta Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation method that can be used in most crops, including rice, wheat and cotton, and particularly in tissue culture recalcitrant crops, such as chickpea and pigeon pea. The protocol was successfully used for the development of transgenic chickpea and pigeon pea lines for resistance against pod borer. Transgenic lines in chickpea, pigeon pea and wheat were also developed for salt stress tolerance. These lines exhibited improved salt tolerance in terms of various physio-biochemical parameters studied. Since the protocol is rapid, as no tissue culture step is involved, it will significantly contribute to the improvement of most crops and will be of interest for plant biologists working with genetic engineering or genome editing.

Seasonal activity of spotted pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) in relation to weather factors infesting cowpea

A field experiment was conducted to study the seasonal incidence of spotted pod borer, Maruca vitrata in cowpea variety AVCP-1 at Entomology farm, B. A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand during Kharif, 2021. The incidence of M. vitrata in cowpea was commenced from 6th week after sowing i.e. 4th week of August (34th SMW) with 0.60 larva/plant and gradually increased to reached its first peak (3.51 larvae/plant) and the highest peak (6.97 larvae/plant) during the 1st week of September (36th SMW) and 2nd week of October (41st SMW) when crop age was 8th and 13th weeks old, respectively. Thereafter, the population gradually declined towards the crop maturity. Concerned to the damage of M. vitrata on pods of cowpea, it was recorded between 8.63 to 59.93% per plant. The maximum pod damage i.e. 59.93% per plant was observed in the second week of October (41st SMW) when M. vitrata incidence was at its highest peak. The population of M. vitrata had highly significant negative correlation with wind speed (-0.882**) whereas, bright sunshine hours (0.586*) and maximum temperature (0.625*) showed significant positive association on cowpea. Furthermore, it was worked out that the bright sunshine hours, maximum temperature and wind speed each contributed 11, 10.9 and 68.2% of the variation in the M. vitrata larval population, respectively.

Efficacy of Insecticides against Gram Pod Borer Helicoverpa <i>Armigera</i> on Soybean

The effect of various insecticides on the larval incidence of pod borer Helicoverpa armigera in soybean revealed that indoxacarb 14.5SC (69.44%) followed by imidacloprid 17.8SL (62.65%), cypermethrin 10EC (58.06%), profenophos 50EC (54.05%), quinalphos 25EC (48.83%) and neem oil (40.59%) led to maximum reduction. Their effect on the yield of soybean revealed that the maximum yield was with indoxacarb 14.5EC (19.19) followed by others.

GENOTYPICAL VARIATIONS AND ASSOCIATION BETWEEN GRAM POD BORER (HELICOVERPA ARMIGERA) AND PHYSIO-MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS IN GRAM (CICER ARIETINUM L.)

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) commonly known as gram is a widely cultivated grain legume crop in the Leguminosae (Fabaceae) family. Gram pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera) is known as the most damaging pest of chickpea that damages various parts of plants at different growth stages. Various physio-morphological characteristics tend to affect the infestation of pod borer as pod wall thickness, pod trichomes density, and pod color. For this purpose, research was conducted in the field area of Entomological Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad. Nine Kabuli chickpea genotypes i.e. PCK-15001, PCK-15019, PCK-16010, PCK-16027, PCK-17001, PCK-17007, PCK-17018, PCK-17030, and NOOR-2019 were sown under RCBD design having three replications. The results showed that the genotype “PCK-17030” had a significantly highest population of pod borer of 0.97larvae/plant and showed the highest pod damage of 7.39% while the genotype“PCK-16027” was the lowest infested with 0.69 larvae/plant of pod borer. On the other hand, the genotype “Noor-2019” showed the lowest pod damage of 6.42%. It is, therefore, concluded that pod wall thickness and density of pod trichomes had a negative relation to the damage of pod borer. As regards pod color, it was observed that there was the maximum pod borer damage in the genotypes having green colored pods as compared to the genotypes having pods with yellowish brown streaks.

Effectiveness of Pest Control of Cocoa Fruit (Conopomorpha cramerella as) Using Pruning and Vegetable Insecticide Treatment on Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L)

The sustainability of cocoa production in Indonesia is faced with the problem of the cocoa pod borer (Theobroma cacao L.). In an effort to control the main pests on cocoa plants, various techniques can be used, namely control with the use of natural insecticides and control by technical culture in the form of pruning. Natural insecticide is an insecticide whose basic ingredients come from plants that are easilybiodegradablein nature, so they do not pollute the environment and are relatively safe for humans and livestock, because the residue is easily lost. Pruning is the act of removing part of the plant organs in the form of branches, twigs and leaves with the aim of obtaining good cocoa plant branches, regulating the distribution of production branches and leaves so that they are evenly distributed, removing unwanted plant parts, stimulating the plants to grow. form new organs, reduce the risk of pest and disease attacks, and increase the ability of plants to form fruit. The purpose of this study was to determine the response of the application of botanical insecticides and pruning to the control of the cocoa pod borer (Theobroma cacao L.). The experimental design used a non-factorial randomized block design consisting of 7 treatments. The treatment of vegetable insecticides consisted of 4 levels, namely I0 (Without insecticide = Control), I1 (vegetable insecticide made from srikaya seeds at a dose of 250 ml/liter of water), I2 (vegetable insecticide made from tuba root with a dose of 250 ml/liter water), I3 (vegetable insecticide made from tobacco leaves at a dose of 250 ml/liter of water). The pruning treatment consisted of 3 levels, namely I4 (Without Pruning (Control), I5 (Pruning Interval 7 days after the study) and I6 (Pruning Interval 14 days after the study). Observations consisted of attack intensity, level of damage caused by PBK attack, attack index and production Control of the cocoa pod borer by pruning and botanical insecticides on cocoa plants showed a significant effect on the parameters of attack intensity and level of damage at the age of 6 weeks, and the attack index at the age of 12 weeks. 2 msp, 4 msp, 8 msp, 10 msp, 12 msp, and the parameters of the level of damage at the age of 2 msp, 4 msp, 8 msp, 10 msp, 12 msp and the plant production parameters at the age of 12 msp showed no significant effect.

Comparative Efficacy of Certain Insecticides and Biopesticides against Chickpea Pod Borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) on Chickpea, Cicer arietinum (L.)

The experiment was conducted at the research plot of the Department of Agricultural Entomology at the Central Research Farm, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj during the Rabi season of 2021-22. The treatments selected for this experiment were Emamectin benzoate 5%SG @0.4g/L (T1), Spinosad 45%SC @0.5ml/L (T2), Profenophos 50%EC @2ml/L (T3), Indoxacarb 14.5%SC @1ml/L (T4), Neem seed kernel extract 5% @5ml/L (T5), Karanja oil 0.2% @2ml/L (T6), Bacillus thuringiensis (1×109 CFU) @2ml/L (T7) and Control (T0). The treatments were sprayed 2 times on the pod borers having crossed their ETL levels at an interval of 15 days. Observations i.e. the larval counts (5 random plants/plot) were taken in an order of the day before spray, 3rd,7th, and 14th days after spray. The results revealed that the treatments (insecticides and biopesticides) were successful in bringing down the pest infestation and superior over control. Among all the treatments applied, the lowest infestation of gram pod borer was observed in Spinosad 45%SC followed by Emamectin benzoate 5%SG, Indoxacarb 14.5%SC significantly superior over untreated control. Spinosad 45% SC gave a maximum grain yield of 22.50 q/ha against the control yielding only up to 6.66 q/ha. At the same time, the benefit-cost ratios of the treatments stand like the best and most economical treatment Spinosad (1:3.75) followed by Emamectin benzoate (1:3.71), Indoxacarb (1:2.94), Profenophos (1:2.53), NSKE (1:2.19), Karanja oil (1:1.53), Bacillus thuringiensis (1:0.87) and control (1:0:67).