HOST PREFERENCES OF EPILACHNA BEETLE ON DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF BRINJAL PLANT

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the Kharjf -2 season from June to November, 2012 to study host preferences of Epilachna beetle on different varieties of brinjal plant. Each variety was considered as individual treatment. There were ten varieties of brinjal. viz. T1 = Shamli, T1 = Muktakeshi, r3 = Yashaswi, T4 = Mohini, Tc = Anondo, T6 = Sandhya, 'I'7 = Harshita. Tg = Dark staflon, I9 = Shingnath and = Islampuri. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Incidence of epilachna beetle showed significant variation on different varieties of brinjal. Among the varieties. Harsitha was found to be the most tolerant against epilachna beetle pest based on the incidence of minimum number of epilachna beetle, number of eggmass and number of grubs per plant was recorded. Varieties of brinjal on epilachna beetle significantly influenced on growth characteristics of rose whereas minimum number of infested plant per plot, minimum number of infested leaf per plant and minimum number of infested fruit per plant were found from 1-larshita variety. The maximum number of healthy and epilachna free brinjal per plant was found in Harshita variety. Yield per plant was significantly influenced by the different varieties of brinjal on epilachna beetle. The highest yield per plant (1777.00 g) was obtained from Harshita variety of brinjal. On the other hand, the lowest yield per plant (155.2 g) was found from Shamli variety of brinjal. These results indicate that the Harshita variety is tolerant to epilachna beetle of brinjal as well as on growth and yield among all the varietal treatments in this study.