Mass Trapping –A Promising Technique for Integrated Management of Pink Bollworm, Pectinophora gossyipiella Saunders (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Cotton

The management of Pink bollworm, a worldwide pest in cotton is mostly dependent on chemical insecticides which lead to several implications and warrant the exploration of other methods. Use of sex pheromones for management of insect pests is not a new-fangled one but need be studied extensively for effective pest management. Hence, a study was conducted at RARS, Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh for two consecutive seasons to study the effectiveness of mass trapping in pink bollworm management. The experimental results showed that the mean moth catch was highest from sleeve traps when compared to funnel trap and delta traps with sticky liners irrespective of trap densities. The mean number of larvae and locule damage was significantly low coupled with high seed cotton yield from the plots with sleeve traps at trap densities of 50 and 20 traps/ha.

Evaluation and Performance of Integrated Crop Management in Chilli in Rainfed Tracts of Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Chilli is an important high value spice crop, its integrated crop management is an important area for the welfare andlivelihood security of farmers. Most of the farmers of Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh are growing wide varieties and cultivars of chilli but so far the research findings on chilli integrated crop management were less aware. To know the yield potential of integrated crop management and its economic impact, evaluation on integrated crop management was conducted at Chandhaluru and Nallaguntla Guedm villages. The adopted package of practices was seed rate @1kg/ha, spacing 60x45cm, FYM 15t/ha, Urea, single super and muriate of potash256:150:80 kg/acre. There was wide variation between integrated crop management and farmers practice in fruit yield and economic returns. The results on yield and economic returns indicated that chilli integrated crop management was found superior to farmers practice. Integrated crop management could obtain 124 fruits per plant and yield of 47.00q/ha, thirps incidence (24.3%), whitefly incidence (9.67 %) and fruit rot infestation (6.0%). Whereas,in farmers practicefruits obtained were99per plant and yield of 43.00q/ha, thripsincidence (44.67 %),whiteflyincidence (28.33) and fruit rot(18 %) with a net income of Rs220000/- and B:C ratio 1: 1.88 compared to farmers practice with a net income of Rs113333/-with B:C ratio 1:1.36. The integrated crop management percent yield increased over farmers practices8.5 per cent. It was concluded that integrated crop management could help to improve the economy of the farmers.