Efficacy of Insecticides Against Pink Bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) in BT Cotton

Pectinophora gossypiella is a key pest of cotton responsible for causing huge economic loss to the cotton grower in India. After two decades of Bt cotton introduction, an outbreak of pink bollworm recorded during 2021 in Punjab. Insecticides are largely used to control pest infestation, In this regard, 21 insecticides recommended by Central Insecticide Board (CIB) including conventional and new generation insecticides were evaluated during 2020-2022. Spraying was initiated at reproductive stage of cotton (100 DAS) when pink bollworm cross 5% ETH level at an interval of 7-15 days. Emamectin benzoate 5SG (Proclaim) @ 100gm, fanpropathrin 10 EC (danitol) @ 300 ml, profenophos 50EC (curacron) @ 500 ml, spinetoram 11.7SC (delegate) @ 170 ml, indoxacarb 15SC (kingdoxa) @ 200 ml, chlorpyriphos 20EC (radar) @ 500 ml and cypermethrin 25EC (cyperguard) @ 80 ml were found most effective in reducing the pink bollworm. Among these, emamectin benzoate 5SG, indoxacarb 15SC, profenophos 50EC and spinetoram 11.7SC recorded significantly lower boll (5.92± 0.10, 4.67± 0.10) and locule damage (7.11± 0.42, 5.00± 0.32) at the time of harvesting along with higher seed cotton yield (21.58, 21.95 qtl/ha), respectively. Similarly, profenophos 50EC, emamectin benzoate 5SG and fanpropathrin 10EC cause more than 70 % larval mortality under laboratory conditions.