SCREENING OF POPULARLY GROWN POTATO VARIETIES AGAINST POTATO TUBER MOTH (Phthorimaea operculella) IN STORAGE CONDITION

Abstract

The study was conducted in the laboratory of the Department of Entomology, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from November 2022 to April 2023 to find out screening of potato varieties against potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella in storage condition. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design with three replications. The potato varieties tested were; BARI Alu-1 (Hira), BARI Alu-7 (Diamant), BARI Alu-8 (Cardinal), BARI Alu- 12 (Dhira), BARI Alu- 13 (Granolla), BARI Alu-25 (Asterix), BARI Alu-43 (Atlas), Lal-Pakhri, Shil-Bilati and BARI TPS-1. It was found that none of the varieties were completely immune to Phthorimaea operculella. But significant differences were observed among ten potato varieties on the highest number of adult emergences occurred in BARI Alu- 12 (Dhira) (50.66±0.57) and the lowest number of adult emergences was found in BARI Alu-25 (Asterix) (22.33±0.57). The highest adult life span of P. operculella was observed in BARI Alu- 12 (Dhira) (9.66±1.15) whereas, the lowest life span was observed in BARI Alu-25 (Asterix) which was 6.00±0.0. Mean number of dead adults of P. operculella from different varieties of stored potatoes at different days more or less same and range was 2.0±1.22 - 2.0±2.82. The highest tuber content loss was observed in BARI Alu- 12 (Dhira) (33.5 %) and the lowest was BARI Alu-25 (Asterix) (8.5%). Among the potato varieties BARI Alu- 12 (Dhira) was found the most susceptible host for P. operculella in respect of both growth and development and food consumption. On the other hand, BARI Alu-25 (Asterix) was the least susceptible variety for P. operculella.