R. D. PATIL, S. A. LANDGE* AND S. V. DAMAME
AICRP on Forage Crops & Utilization,
Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413 722 (Maharashtra), India
*(e-mail : landge_sandip@rediffmail.com)
(Received : 10 December 2023; Accepted : 27 December 2023)
SUMMARY
An experiment entitled “Evaluation of biopesticides against defoliator insect pest of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.)” was conducted at the All India Co-ordinated Research Projecton Forage Crops, Department of Agril. Botany, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri Dist. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) during Rabi 2022-23. During the course of study, seven biopesticides were evaluated against defoliator insect pest of lucerne i.e. Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura. Among the entomopathogenic fungal and viral biopesticides tested against H. armigera, Metarhizium rileyi (1×108cfu/g) 1.15% WP and HaNPV @ 500 LE/ha found superior and showed less than 1 larva of H. armigera at 10 days after spray; whereas among the biopesticides tested against S. litura, Metarhizium rileyi (1×108 cfu/g) 1.15% WP and SlNPV @ 500 LE/ha were equally effective for management of S. litura. These treatments were recorded least larval population at 7 and 10 days after application and significantly superior over other treatments.
Key words: Lucerne, H. armigera, S. litura, biopesticides