Field Evaluation of Native Nucleopolyhedrovirus for the Management of Tomato Fruitborer Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner)

In the present investigation, a native isolate (PAU1) of HaNPV was evaluated for its efficacy against H. armigera on tomato crop pn a aield trial. The efficacy oo fwo and three weekly sprays of HaNPV at two dosages viz., 250 LE ha⁻¹ and 375 LE ha⁻¹ was compared with carbaryl 50 WP @ 1 Kg a.i. ha⁻¹. Five days after the second spray, all the NPV treatments were at par with the standard and harboured significantly lower larval population (2.16 to 3.16 larvae 10 plants⁻¹) than control (7.5 larvae 10 plants⁻¹). Five days after the third spray, a larval population of 0.83 larvae 10 plants⁻¹ was recorded in three sprays of HaNPV @ 375 LE ha⁻¹, and it was at par with two and three sprays of carbaryl with 0.83 and 0.50 larvae 10 plants⁻¹. The yield data from a total of four pickings revealed that three sprays with the higher dosage of HaNPV with a yield of 121.2 q ha⁻¹ were at par with three sprays of the standard insecticide with 121.5 q ha⁻¹ fruit yield.