Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems

Field evaluation of eight IPM modules was done against whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci Genn. in bitter gourd during, kharif and rabi -summer 2016–17 and 2017–18 at ICAR- Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka. During kharif 2016–17, spraying diafenthiuron 50 WP @ 1g/L, triazophos 40 EC @1.5ml/l, buprofezin 25SC @ 0.25ml/l and imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 0.5ml/lat 15days intervals proved effective with 78.09% control followed by module consisting of application of Neem oil @ 1%, Pongam oil @ 1%, M. anisopliae (2x10⁹) @ 2ml/l and B. bassiana (2x10⁸) @ 2ml/l at weekly intervals and spraying Neem oil @ 1%, Pongam oil @ 1% at weekly intervals. Spraying subsequently diafenthiuron 50 WP @ 1g/l and triazophos 40 EC @1.5ml/l both 15 days intervals, respectively. Sowing maize (barrier crop) + removal of infested leaves and residues from the field +erection of solar light traps @ 5 traps/ha for mass trapping +tying yellow sticky trap to attract whiteflies) were able to suppress 15.5% whiteflies. When the same IPM modules were evaluated during rabi– summer 2017 -18, same trend prevailed. The above mentioned first module alone had a control of 80.69% whiteflies followed by other modules. Application of M. anisopliae (2x10⁹), B. bassiana (2x10⁸), Neem oil 1% and Pongam oil 1% at 10 days intervals gave the highest yield of 10.50 and followed by 10.39, 10.24 and 10.09 t/ha in other modules. The above module recorded higher benefit cost ratio (2.82).