How Susceptible are the Indian, Himalayan Populations of Insect Pests to Novel Groups of Insecticides

Author: Amit Umesh Paschapur*, Avupati RNS Subbanna, J.P. Gupta, Krishna Kant Mishra and Lakshmi Kant

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Abstract

The insect pests like Helicoverpa armigera Hubner, Spilarctia obliqua (walker), Raphidopalpa foveicollis (Lucas), Chauliops choprai and Lipaphis erysimi Kaltenbach cause severe yield losses to hill crops in the Indian Himalayas. Farmers in the Himalayas mainly rely on traditional form of organic farming and rarely use any insecticides for insect pest management. In case of severe pest infestation, they spray conventional insecticides in high dosages, thus leading to insecticide resistance and reduced control of insect population. Considering the pest severity and dependence on conventional insecticides, a total of 23 insecticides (conventional and novel groups, botanicals and microbials) were screened against five target insects. The insecticides belonging to diamide, spinosyn and avermectin group were highly toxic against lepidopteran pests. Emamectin benzoate and Flubendiamide recorded lowest LC50 value of 97.49 and 22.8 ppm against the 3rd instars of H. armigera and S. obliqua respe

Keywords

Indian Himalayas, insect pests, yield losses, conventional and novel insecticides, LC50 values, baseline susceptibility.

Conclusion

The agriculture in the Indian Himalayas has been the traditional subsistence system of crop-livestock farming for ages. But, due to increasing demand for agricultural produce of Himalayan origin in the metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities of India and abroad, the farmers of hill states are shifting their interest towards commercial production system, which includes intensive farming, contract farming and polyhouse cultivation. These new cultivation systems not only give high yields but also create very favourable environmental conditions for pest and disease survival and dispersion, thus forcing farmers to adapt chemical pest management practices. Therefore, in order to fix the baseline susceptibility to various novel chemistry insecticides and provide safer alternatives for hazardous conventional organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, the present study was conducted and novel insecticides were screened against major insect pests of hill crops at laboratory level. Based on our res

References

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How to cite this article

Paschapur, A. U.; Subbanna, A. R.N.S.; Gupta, J. P.; Mishra, K. K. and Kant, L. (2022). How Susceptible are the Indian, Himalayan Populations of Insect Pests to Novel Groups of Insecticides. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(1): 121-130.