Annals of Plant Protection Sciences

Investigations were carried out to know the post release movement of Trichogramma chilonis in sugarcane ecosystem. impact of intercrops and T chilonis on the incidence of early shoot borer of sugarcane, Chilo infuscatellus and to assess efficacy of different IPM modules against early shoot borer in sugarcane. Studies on the movement of T chilonis based on recovery of T chilonis keeping Corcyra eggs at varied distances revealed that up to 1–5 m distance, the % parasitization did not differ significantly. Beyond 5 m, the % recovery decreased at increasing rate. 40–50% more recovery was found at down wind sectors than at upwind at 45, 60 and 75 days after planting (DAP), however, at 90 DAP, it did not differ. Results on the impact of various intercrops (coriander, soybean, french bean and okra) and T chilonis on C. injilscatellus indicated that marked control of C. injilscatellus and highest activity of T chilonis was found in the combination of sugarcane + coriander. On the contrary, sugarcane intercropped with okra recorded higher % infestation of C. infuscatellus and lower activity of T chilonis. The highest number millable canes (l,l3,130/ha), cane yield (92.2 t/ha), cane equivalent yield (100.5 t/ha) and maximum net return (Rs.63,498) was obtained when sugarcane was grown along with coriander. C. infuscatellus incidence was significantly less (2.6 to 7.2%) in module I (sevidol, endosulfan and T chilonis) followed by module II (granular virus and T chilonis) however, highest % incidence was observed in module III (cndosulfan sprays). Module I recorded the highest cost benefit ratio of 1:2.8 followed by module II.