Ovipositional Deterrency and Ovicidal effect of certain Neem Formulations against Chilo partellus (Swinhoe)

Seven days old plants of two maize varieties namely, Pusa Early Hybrid Makka-2 (PEHM-2) and Arun composite were caged in chimneys and exposed to freshly emerged adult moths of Chilo partellus to see the ovipositional deterrency effect of various neem formulations. All the neem formulations effectively deterred the oviposition of C partellus moths except Neem Azal-F 0.5 ml 1⁻¹ (0.0025% azadirachtin) on Arun composite as compared to control. Significantly high egg mortality was observed in all neem formulations over control except Achook 4 ml 1⁻¹ (0.0006% azadirachtin) on PEHM-2. When the neem formulations were sprayed on freshly laid egg masses of C. partellus under Potter's tower, incubation period was significantly prolonged vis-a-vis control. All the treatments showed significantly high egg mortality as compared to control Neem Azal-F @ 1 ml 1⁻¹ (0.005% azadirachtin) and Multiplex @ 4 ml I⁻¹ (0.00012% azadirachtin) showed significantly high egg mortality than rest of the treatments.