Management of Sucking Pests by Using Newer Insecticides and their Effect on Natural Enemies in Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

Abstract

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most popular solanaceous vegetable crops grown all over the world and ranks second in importance after potato. In India, tomato is cultivated in almost all parts of the country and occupy an area of about 8.79 lakh hectares with total production of 182.27 lakh MT and productivity of 20.7 MT/ha (Anonymous, 2013). In Maharashtra, tomato is cultivated over an area of about 0.50 lakh hectares with production of 10.50 lakh tones and the productivity is 21.0 tones/ha (Anonymous, 2013). Tomato growers in Western Maharashtra regularly experienced the economic damage caused by fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera Hubner), whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius), aphid (Aphis gossypii Glover) and thrips (Frankliniella schultzei Trybom). These pests are polyphagous in nature and their abundance in nature is throughout the year. Moreover, the cultivation of tomato and availability of alternate hosts encourage the development of pest pressure round the year. The sucking pests viz., thrips, whiteflies and aphids cause severe damage to crop by transmitting virus disease rather than direct feeding. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 4 (2017) pp. 615-622 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com