Eco-friendly Management of Brinjal Shoot and Fruit Borer, Leucinodes orbonalis Guen. in Meghalaya

A field trial was conducted at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya during pre-kharif season, 2010 to evaluate eight insecticides and one pheromone along with untreated control against brinjal shoot and fruit borer, Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The treatments viz. NSKE 5%, Neem oil 0.3% (3ml l⁻¹), Karanjin 2EC (2ml l⁻¹), Annona squamosa 1EC (2ml l⁻¹), Bacillus thuringiensis 8L (500g ha⁻¹), Spinosad 45 SC (75g a.i. ha⁻¹), Beauveria bassiana (Baba 2ml l⁻¹), pheromone trap (Lucilure @ 100 traps ha⁻¹), Endosulfan 35 EC (0.07%) were applied at 53 days after transplanting and repeated after 15 days of first spraying. After both spraying, lowest mean shoot infestation was found in endosulfan (5.28% infestation and 72.59% reduction) which was closely at par with spinosad (5.52%) and lucilure (5.65%) with 71.33 and 70.63% reduction, respectively. Highest marketable fruit yield was recorded in lucilure treated plots (13.21 t ha⁻¹) followed by endosulfan (11.30 t ha⁻¹), spinosad (11.13 t ha⁻¹). All insecticides were relatively safe to spider population than endosulfan that recorded least number of spiders (1.15 spiders plant⁻¹) as compared to control (2.25 spiders plant⁻¹).