MANAGEMENT OF MAJOR INSECT PESTS OF GROUNDNUT USING BOTANICALS AND SOME SELECTED CHEMICAL INSECTICIDES

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the management of major insect pests of groundnut using botanicals and some selected chemical insecticides. BARI Chinabadam8

was used as the test crop for the experiment. Seven treatments were applied viz. T 1

(Imidacloprid 70FS @ 5 ml/kg), T 2 ii

(Acephate 75SP @ 0.05%), T 3 (Fipronil 5SC @ 0.01%), T 4 (Thiamethoxam 25WG @0.4 ml/L at 30 DAS), T 5 (Neem seed kernel extract @ 5% at 30 DAS), T 6 (Azadirachtin @ 2 ml/L at 30 DAS) and T 7 = Neem leaf extract @ 2.5%. Major insect pests namely aphid, whitefly and thrips were found in the study field. Treatment T 5 (Neem seed kernel extract @ 5% at 30 DAS) showed best performance in reducing aphid and whitefly population and also their infestation whereas T 7 (Neem leaf extract @ 2.5%) showed best performance in reducing thrips. Highest healthy shoot and lowest percent of infestation was also recorded from the treatment T 5 (Neem seed kernel extract @ 5% at 30 DAS) followed by T 7 (Neem leaf extract @ 2.5%) whereas least performance was observed from the treatment T 3 (Fipronil 5SC @ 0.01%). Treatment T 5

(Neem seed kernel extract @ 5% at 30 DAS) also showed the best results on growth, yield and yield contributing characteristics viz. maximum plant height (45.27 cm), number of branches plant -1 (9.63), number of pods plant -1 (18.75), number of seeds pod

(1.72), 100 seed weight (49.24 g), pod yield plot -1 (1.37 kg) and pod yield ha (2.37 t) whereas the lowest pod yield ha -1 (1.97 t) was obtained from the treatment T 3 (Fipronil 5SC @ 0.01%). In case of quality of seeds after harvest, T 5 (Neem seed kernel extract @ 5% at 30 DAS) treated plot gave best performance and showed maximum seed germination (92.40%), shoot length (7.14 cm), root length (6.72 cm) and seed vigour index (1281.00) whereas T 3 (Fipronil 5SC @ 0.01%) showed least performance. So, it can be concluded that among all the treatments, T 5 (Neem seed kernel extract @ 5% at 30 DAS) was best for controlling insect pest of groundnut which resulted maximum yield and seed quality followed by the treatment T 7 -1 (Neem leaf extract @ 2.5%) whereas T 3

(Fipronil 5SC @ 0.01%) treatment showed lowest performance.