MANAGEMENT OF SUCKING INSECT PESTS OF BRINJAL USING PLANT EXTRACTS

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the experimental farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Dhaka, during February to August, 2012 to evaluate some plant extracts against sucking insect pests such as aphid (Aphis gossypii), jassid (Amrasca biguttula biguttula), whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) attacking brinjal. Neem seed kernel extract, Mehogoni seed extract, Tamarind fruit extract, Bonkolmi leaf extract, Biskatali leaf extract, Tobacco leaf extract, Mustard seed extract and untreated control plots were set in Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications. The population of aphid, jassid, whitefly and mealybug were gradually decreased with plant age in respective of treatments. The lowest number of aphid, jassid, whitefly and mealybug (5.33, 3.33, 4.33 and 2.33 before fruiting stage and 12.67, 10.67, 11.67 and 9.67 during fruiting stage) per 5 leaves/plant were observed in neem seed kernel extract treated plots. The number of leaves and branches/plant, number of fruits/plant, length, diameter and weight of individual fruit were found the highest in neem seed kernel extract @ 20g/l treatment. The same treatment gave the highest yield (29.58t/ha) and increased 41.10% yield over control. The maximum net return (330071 tk/ha) and the highest benefit cost ratio (2.28) was also observed in neem seed kernel extract. Bishkatali leaf extract showed the similar performance in all regards against on aphid, jassid, whitefly and mealybug on brinjal. Bonkolmi leaf extract also gave the satisfactory result in reducing aphid, jassid, whitefly and mealybug infestation and increasing brinjal yield