Journal of Eco-friendly Agriculture
Year : 2016, Volume : 11, Issue : 1
First page : ( 41) Last page : ( 43)
Print ISSN : 2229-628X. Online ISSN : 2582-2683.

Ecofriendly and biointensive approach for the management of sugarcane shoot borers under organic farming

Visalakshi M., Bhavani B., Rao S. Govinda

RARS, Anakapalle – 531 001, Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Online published on 30 November, 2019.

Abstract

Utilization of biocontrol agent–egg parasitoid, Trichogramma chilonis for the management of sugarcane shoot borers (early shoot borer, Chilo infuscatellus and internode borer, Chilo sacchariphagous indicus) as an eco-friendly practice in organic farming was studied in field experiments at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Anakapalle during 2011 to 2013. Adoption of trash mulching @ 3 t ha⁻¹ at the time of planting/3^rd day after ratooning and release of T. chilonis @ 50,000 ha⁻¹ from 30 days after planting, four releases at 7–10 day interval and two releases after node formation effectively reduced the incidence of sugarcane shoot borers in organic plot compared with inorganic plot. The result of experiments conducted for three consecutive years proved the effectiveness of T. chilonis against shoot borers in organic plot and data revealed that an average early shoot borer damage and internode borer damage recorded as 2.16 and 6.08 per cent respectively in organic plot compared to 23.12 and 9.28 per cent respectively in inorganic plot. Perusal of data revealed that the average cane yield was 69.94 t ha⁻¹ in organic plot and 79.54 t ha⁻¹ in inorganic farming plot. NMC also followed the same trend as it was recorded high in inorganic plot (78.56 t ha⁻¹) compared to organic plot (74.47 t ha⁻¹). Comparison of borer damage between organic and inorganic fields showed the effectiveness of T. chilonis against shoot borers in organic farming to suppress the borer damage below economic threshold level.

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Keywords

Sugarcane, shoot borers, management, Trichogramma chilonis, organicfarming.

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