Efficacy of newer insecticides against defoliators and capsule borer in castor

Field experiments were conducted during Kharif 2012 and 2013 to evaluate the efficacy of four newer insecticides (flubendiamide, chlorantraniliprole, emamectin benzoate and lufenuron) with two conventional insecticides (lambda-cyhalothrin and profenofos) against defoliators (semilooper and tobacco caterpillar) and capsule borer in castor. Among the insecticides, flubendiamide @ 48 g a.i./ha and chlorantraniliprole @ 30 g a.i./ha were very effective in suppressing the larval population of semilooper during 2012 and tobacco caterpillar (0.0 to 0.1 and 0.0 to 0.3 larva/plant, respectively) during 2013 and significantly superior to emamectin benzoate and lufenuron (0.1 to 0.7 and 0.7 to 3.3 larvae/plant, respectively) and untreated control (1.9 to 2.4 and 4.3 to 5.3 larvae/plant, respectively). Capsule damage due to capsule borer during both the years was lowest in flubendiamide (5.0 to 9.3%) and chlorantraniliprole (4.9 to 9.8%) treatments compared to 11.0 to 17.3% in control. Highest seed yield was recorded with flubendiamide (2111 kg/ha) followed by chlorantraniliprole (2018 kg/ha) as against 1613 kg/ha in untreated control. The maximum incremental cost-benefit ratio of 1: 3.04 was obtained with application of flubendiamide followed by lambda-cyhalothrin (1: 2.95) and profenofos (1: 2.77).