Field efficacy of insecticides against top borer, Scirpophaga excerptalis walker infesting sugarcane

Investigations on the efficacy of four insecticides viz., chlorpyriphos, phorate, sevidol, and gamma HCH and three neem products viz., neem seed kernel extract, nimin and neem cake against early shoot borer, Chilo infuscatellus Snellen (Cerambicidae: Lepidoptera), of sugarcane were carried out. Among the four insecticides, gamma HCH was found most effective in reducing the early shoot borer. The highest cane yield (78.8 t/ha) was obtained from the plots treated with gamma HCH at 1.0 Kg a.i./ha and gave 0.76, 2.28 and 2.66 per cent higher cane yield than sevidol 4:4G @1.0 Kg a.i./ha, phorate10G @1.0 Kg a.i./ha and chlorpyriphos 20 EC @1.0 Kg a.i./ha, respectively than neem products; Nimin, NSKE and neem cake. In spite of the differences in the effect of the various insecticides at 45, 60 and 75 days after planting, there was consistency in the effect of sevidol 4:4G @1.0 Kg a.i./ha, chlorpyriphos 20 EC @1.0 Kg a.i./ha, phorate10G @1.0 Kg a.i./ha and gamma HCH 6G @1.0 Kg a.i./ha were found statistically at par with each other and significantly superior over other treatments.