Author(s):

Sagar Anand Pandey

Abstract: Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is one of the most important vegetable crops grown worldwide because it is endowed with several unique characteristics with diversified uses for human needs and is an important crop in semiarid tropical and subtropical areas. Okra dry seed contains good edible oil (13-22%) and protein (20-24%). Many of the pests occurring on cotton are also found on okra crop. As high as, 72 species of insects have been recorded on okra of which, the sucking pests viz. Aphids, Aphis gossypii (Glover); leafhopper, Amrasca biguttula biguttula (Ishida); whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius); shoot and fruit borer, Earias vittella and mite Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval) causes significant damage to the crop. Okra fruit and shoot borer E. vittella (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a widely distributed insect pest. This pest has been reported to infest okra (A. esculentus), cotton, hollyhock, safflower .It is reported that 69 percent losses were observed in marketable yield due to attack of E. vittella on okra. The chemical control is generally practiced by farmer for higher gains, but its injudicious application has created many problems. Sole reliance on chemical control leads to the problem of pest resistance, resurgence of pests and creation of environmental pollution. Under such circumstances, the use of botanicals and bio- pesticides in pest management is considered as ecologically viable proportion to overcome these problems.

Pages: 93-104  |  3020 Views  1305 Downloads

Download (554KB)