Management of Major Insect Pests of Ash Gourd, Benincasa hispida Thunb. with Traps, Biopesticides and Newer Insecticides

Ash gourd, Benincasa hispida Thunb., is an important vegetable crop, cultivated globally for its medicinal values, and its production is hampered by many insect pests. Therefore, field experiments were conducted to study the efficacy of sticky traps, botanicals and organic pesticides, biopesticides, and newer insecticides against major pests of ash gourd in the farmer's holdings at Kaliyavur village of Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, India during Rabi 2018. The results revealed that cylindrical white sticky traps attracted more number of alate forms of Myzus persicae Sulzer, and cylindrical yellow sticky traps attracted more number of adults of Liriomyza trifolii Burgess. Azadirachtin 3000 ppm at 2 mL/L was effective in reducing the insect pests. Beauveria bassiana formulation at 2 g/L was effective against Myzus persicae Sulzer and Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas. Diaphania indica Saunders was controlled by the application of Bacillus thuringiensis at 2 g/L. Newer insecticide molecules were very prominent in managing the major insect pests of ash gourd. The findings of the study will be helpful for the effective management of insect pests of ash gourd.