Insecticidal Activity of Some Botanicals against the Sucking Insect Pests of Cotton

Abstract

Jassid (Amrascadevastans), thrips (Thripstabaci) and whitefly (Bemisiatabaci) have become major pest due to invasion of Bt
cotton. Insecticidal resistance by these pests is another threat, keeping in view these facts seven botanicals viz., peppermint
(Menthapiperita), turmeric (Curcuma longa), hot pepper (Capsicum annuum), ginger (Zingiberofficinale), akk (Calotropis procera),
bitter gourd (Momordicacharantia) and mehandi (Lawsoniainermis) were tested for their efficacy against population of jassid, thrips and
whitefly in cotton. Eight treatments including control were maintained following RCBD with three replications. The treatments were
administered twice during the cotton growing season and observations were recorded after 24, 72 and 168 hours of treatment. The results
revealed that extract of ginger was most efficient bringing about highest percentage mortality (83.3%) in the population of jassids
followed by hot pepper (78.3%) and bitter gourd (68.2%). Similar effect of these extracts was found against thrips and whitefly. Turmeric
and peppermint were found to be least effective although both caused significant reduction in the population of sucking pests as compared
to the control. Higher yield was recorded in plots treated with ginger (2304.4 kg ha-1), hot pepper (2082.2 kg ha-1) and bitter gourd (2000
kg ha-1) as compared to that in control (1302.2 kg ha-1).It is concluded that all the used botanicals were effective to reduce the population
of jassid, thrips and whitefly on cotton; however, ginger and hot pepper performed comparatively better than others.