Management of Sap Sucking and Soil Insect Pests of Potato with Insecticides

The effect of conventional insecticides on incidence and succession of thrips (Thrips palmi Karny), potato aphid (Myzus persicae Sulzer), leafhopper(Amrasca biguttula biguttula (Ishida),white fly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.) and soil insect -cutworm (Agrotis sp.) associated with potato variety Kufri Pukhraj along with other yield attributes is reported. The study carried out at Central Potato Research Station, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh during 2008–09 and 2009–10 comprised of application of phorate 10G @ 15 kg ha⁻¹ at the time of planting followed by drenching of ridges with imidacloprid 17.8 SL @ 4ml 10 l⁻¹ of water at 45 and 55 days old potato crop. The treatment proved highly effective in reducing the vector population on potato plants as compared to untreated plot. The highest mean tuber yield 516.8 q and marketable tuber yield 399.4 q was recorded in the treatment as compared to control 346.6 q and 304.9 q, respectively during both the years of experimentation. Thrips and aphids population differed significantly among the treatments during crop growth.