EFFECT OF SOME CHEMICAL INSECTICIDES AND NONCHEMICAL MEASURES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RED PUMPKIN BEETLE ON WHITE GOURD

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to determine the comparative effectiveness of three chemnical insecticides such as cypennethrin 10EC, chlorpyriphos 20EC, cartap 50SP, and three nonchemical methods viz. mosquito net barrier at seedling stage, application of ash, hand collection and destruction of adult against red pumpkin beetle, Aulacophora foveicollis (Lucas) infesting white gourd in the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangia Agricultural University, Dhaka during March to August, 2008. Among the insecticides, cypennethrin was found as the most effective treatment and reduced 88.20% beetle population over control. The treatment had the lowest percent of leaf area damage (17.08%), increased vine length (94.16%), fruit length (23.62%), diameter of fruit (50.75%) and produced the highest amount of fruit yield (30.41 t ha") . Chlorpyriphos and cartap reduced beetle population more than 80% over control, produced moderate yield as compared to cypennethrin. Application of ash and hand collection and destruction of adult showed better performance against the beetle among the nonchemical methods and gave higher fruit yield of white gourd. The perfonnance of mosquito net barrier at seedling stage was not satisfactory. All chemical insecticides showed better performance than nonchemical methods against red pumpkin beetle & cypennethrin was the best.