International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No.28, 250-261
251
integrated
pest
management (IPM) programs.
Therefore, in the present field experiment a novel phthalic acid
diamide insecticide flubendiamide having novel mode of action has been evaluated against pumpkin caterpillar or
gherkin fruit borer,
Diaphania indica
(Saunders).
2 Materials and Methods
Bio-efficacy trials
The field experiments were carried out for two consecutive
rabi
/summer seasons of 2009-10 and 2010-11 in the
farmer’s fields in Kalaghatagi village in Dharwad district, Karnataka, India with seven treatments replicated thrice
in a randomised block design (RBD). The treatments consisted of 1) Flubendiamide 480 SC @ 24 g a.i./ha, 2)
Flubendiamide 480 SC @ 36 g a.i./ha, 3) Flubendiamide 480 SC @ 48 g a.i./ha, 4) Flubendiamide 480 SC @ 60 g
a.i./ha, 5) Indoxacarb 14.5 SL @ 21.75 g a.i./ha, 6) Lambda Cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 18.75 g a.i./ha, and 7) Untreated
check. The spacing followed was 100 x 30 and 100 x 45 cm with Anaxo and Shakti varieties in a plot size of 6.0 x
5.1 m and 8.0 x 6.0 m during first and second season, respectively. The planting was taken up during last week of
December in medium red soils during both the seasons. Fifteen irrigations were provided to the crop during the
cropping season in both the years.
The insecticides were sprayed three times starting from 30 days after planting at 10 days interval with knapsack
sprayer fitted with hollow cone nozzle using spray volume of 500 litres per hectare. The insecticidal efficacy was
assessed by recording the number of fruit borer larvae per meter row length as pre-count at one day before
application and post-treatment counts at 5 and 10 days after each application. Healthy and damaged fruits were
recorded on randomly selected five tagged plans and per cent damaged fruits at 5 and 10 days after second and
third application was computed. Similarly, number of coccinellid beetles were also recorded from the five tagged
plants in each treatment at one day before first spray as pre-treatment count and on 5 and 10 days after each
application as post-treatment counts. The observation recorded on 10
th
day after first spray and second sprays
served as pre-treatment count for second and third sprays, respectively. The fruit yield was harvested separately
and fruit yield per hectare was computed based on six pickings.
Phytotoxicity trials
The field experiments were carried out for two consecutive
rabi
/summer seasons of 2009-10 and 2010-11 in the
farmer’s fields in Kalaghatagi village in Dharwad district, Karnataka, India with four treatments replicated thrice
in RBD. The treatments consisted of 1) Flubendiamide 480 SC @ 60 g a.i./ha, 2) Flubendiamide 480 SC @ 120 g
a.i./ha, 3) Flubendiamide 480 SC @ 240 g a.i./ha, and 4) Untreated check (Water spray). The spacing followed
was 100 x 30 and 100 x 45 cm with Anaxo and Shakti varieties in a plot size of 6.0 x 5.1 m and 8.0 x 6.0 m during
first and second season, respectively. The planting was taken up during last week of December in medium red
soils during both the seasons. Fifteen irrigations were provided to the crop during the cropping season in both the
years.
One spray was taken up at 45 days after planting with knap sack sprayer using 500 litres of water per hectare. The
observations on phytotoxicity symptoms (
viz
., leaf chlorosis & leaf tip burning, leaf necrosis, leaf epinasty, leaf
hyponasty, vein clearing, wilting and rosetting) were recorded on 1, 3, 7, 10 and 15 days after spray by using the
following score.
Score
Per cent Phytotoxicity
0
No Phytotoxicity
1
1-10
2
11-20
3
21-30
4
31-40
5
41-50
6
51-61
7
61-70
8
71-80
9
81-90
10
91-100
