Efficacy of Botanical Oils and Extracts against Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) on Cotton

Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci is a major pest of cotton crop under North Indian conditions. The field experiments were conducted to test the efficacy of different oils viz, Castor (Ricinus communis), Pongamia (Pongamia glabra), Sesame (Sesamum indicum), Neem (Azadirachta indica) and plant extracts namely Kor tuma (Citrullus colocynthis), Aak (Calotropis spp.), Dharek (Melia azedarach) against adults of whitefly along with standard checks afidopyropen and dinotefuran during Kharif 2022 and 2023. The results showed that above chemical insecticides (standard checks) consistently reduced whitefly populations, while biopesticides such as neem oil and kor tuma extract also showed significant efficacy during both seasons. No phytotoxic effects were observed with plant oil treatments. Kor tuma extract alongside neem oil demonstrated substantial efficacy against B. tabaci, show casing their potential as eco-friendly and effective alternatives to chemical insecticides.