Drip chemigation of insecticides in bell pepper against Spodoptera litura (fabricius) under protected cultivation

Capsicum (Sweet pepper or Bell pepper), Capsicum annuum L. also popularly called as Simla mirch in India is one of the leading vegetables grown in open conditions as well as under protected conditions. It is attacked by various insect and mite pests from seedling to fruiting stage. The damage caused by Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) during flowering and fruit formation is the most concern and farmers everywhere feel the need to protect such high value crops from any type of damage caused by insect pests.

The trial was conducted under poly house condition during kharif 2019 at horticulture garden, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with eight treatments replicated thrice in a 7.5 m x 1 m plot size with a spacing of 45 cm x 40 cm. The capsicum hybrid WS 234 was raised as per the recommended package of practices except plant protection measures. The observations on pest incidence were recorded one day before treatment imposition as pre-treatment count. Post treatment counts were recorded at one, three, five and seven days after each chemigation/spray.

The present study indicated that treatment of cyantraniliprole 10.26% OD @ 90 g a.i. ha⁻¹ applied through drip chemigation was effective by recording minimum larval population with lowest fruit damage over all the other treatments. The next best treatment was cyantraniliprole 10.26% OD @ 60 g a.i. ha⁻¹ applied as foliar spray. The order of moderate effective treatments were drip applications of cyantraniliprole 10.26% OD @ 60 g a.i. ha⁻¹ > cyantraniliprole + thiamethoxam 19.8+19.8 w/w @ 64 g a.i. ha⁻¹ > cyantraniliprole + thiamethoxam 19.8+19.8 w/w @ 32 g a.i. ha⁻¹ > imidacloprid 70 WG @ 50 g a.i. ha⁻¹ > imidacloprid 70 WG @ 25 g a.i. ha⁻¹.