Comparative performance of cotton subjected to organic and synthetic fertilizer under protected and unprotected conditions of insects

Results under unprotected conditions indicated that total yield was significantly higher in recommended fertilizer conditions (18.14 q/ha) when compared with FYM (16.51 q/ha) and Control (15.86 q/ha), whereas the yield attributing characters like plant height, number of monopods/plant, number of sympods/plant and number of bolls/plant were non-significant in all the treatment. In case of protected conditions the average total yield of all treatments (20.67 q/ha) as well as the number of boll/plant (43.0) was significantly higher as compared to the unprotected conditions. Simultaneously the average populations of jassid (1.63/3 leaves), whitefly (1.52/3 leaves) and thrips (1.38/3 leaves) were less under protected conditions as compared to the unprotected conditions where it was 2.01, 2.39 and 2.54 per 3 leaves, respectively. However, the population of natural enemies (spider, Chrysoperla carnea and Coccinella septumpunctata) was high in unprotected conditions where fertilizers was applied.