Integrated pest management in cotton

Abstract

Cotton pest scenario has changed considerably during the last two decades. The key pests are jassid (Amrasca biguttula), whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), spotted and spiny bollworms (Earias vittella and E. insulana), and American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera). Among these whitefly and American bollworm are responsible for heavy loss to the cotton crop. Five different insecticidal mixtures were evaluated for the management of cotton pests during different years in various experiments. Nurelle D 505 and Chlorguard plus are effective for the management of American bollworm and also for all the three species of bollworms. In combination the dose of chlorpyriphos required is half the recommended one. Decidan and Spark @ 1.00 1/ha were more effective for pink and spotted bollworms. Higher dosages gave better control of American bollworm than deltamethrin, triazophos and endosulfan. Polytrin C @ 1.25 was significantly more effective than profenofos and cypermethrin alone for the control of American bollworm. The population of jassid was significantly low in Nurelle D 505 and Chlorguard plus than in chlorpyriphos. The population was also low in Decidan than in endosulfan. The build up of whitefly population was significantly less in Polytrin C and Spark than in profenofos and triazophos. These studies indicate that insecticidal mixtures applied as need base application in 1-2 sprays under changed pest scenario can increase the productivity of seed cotton.