Efficacy and economics of various pest management modules against tomato fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner)

The field experiment was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of various pest management module against tomato fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) in Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari with an objective to test the efficacy of different pest management modules with their economics and effect on larval population and fruit infestation. The results revealed that IPM module was found most promising in reducing larval population (1.04/plant), fruit infestation (15.35%) and increasing yield (36445 kg/ha). The insecticidal module was equally effective in reducing larval population (1.09/plant), fruit infestation (16.33%) and increasing yield (34684 kg/ha) as compared to IPM module. The biological module (1.13 larvae/plant, 20.19% infested fruit, 30813 kg/ha yield) was found next to insecticidal module, whereas botanical module (1.19 larvae/plant, 17.74% infested fruit, 30350 kg/ha yield) was next to biological module. The sole non-pesticidal module remained least effective. The net ICBR obtained in IPM module was 1:9.45 which was comparable with insecticidal module (1:15.92).