Validation of IPM strategy in Bt cotton in whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) hot spot of North-West India

Abstract

Bt cotton has witnessed the increasing infestation of sucking pests especially whitefly during last one decade. During 2015, whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Ishii) emerged as a serious pest in North India destroyed 2/3 of the cotton crop in Punjab. There was an urgent need to validate integrated pest management (IPM) strategy for management of whitefly in Bt cotton in hot spot area with farmer's participatory mode. To overcome the problem, ICAR-NCIPM initiated a trial on validation of IPM in cotton at Fazilka, Punjab in 2.5 ha during 2016, which was extended to 12 ha and 40 ha area in the year 2017 and 2018 respectively. The validated IPM strategy included timely sowing of recommended cotton hybrid, removal of weed as alternate host, proper plant nutrition along with foliar spray of 2% potassium nitrate, use of neem based pesticides, conservation of natural enemies by avoidance of insecticides which are harmful to natural enemies, and judicious use of safer pesticides. IPM implementation resulted in successful management of whitefly and other pests with significant increase in population of natural enemies predators along with significant reduction in the number of insecticides spray (>68%) and amount of active ingredients (>84%) in IPM fields as compared to FP (Farmer's practice) fields. IPM implementation also brought > 18% increase in yield, > 17% reduction in input cost and >90% increase in net profit compared to FP. The benefit-cost ratio in IPM was 2.55 against 1.88 in FP.

Large-scale IPM validation in whitefly (Bemisia tabaci)-prone cotton (Gossypium spp.) fields adjoining kinnow orchards

“…FFS also helped in developing strong linkages among farmers, scientists and extension workers. The previous studies by various workers Kumar et al (2011), Chandi et al (2015), Birah et al (2019), Kumar al. (2021 revealed that the application of IPM components, clean cultivation, balanced use of fertilizers, judicious use of insecticides and planting of maize/cowpea as border crop provided optimum conditions for multiplication and augmentation of natural enemies.…”

“…The increase in yield in IPM fields was mainly because of good agriculture practices including foliar application of potassium nitrate (NPK 13:0:45) which helped in maintaining plant vigour under insect pressure, thereby helping the plant to compensate the damage done by the pests. Bala et al (2018) and Kumar et al (2021) also reported that high levels of potassium enhance secondary compound metabolism and reduce carbohydrate accumulation, and plant damage from insect pests. It was also observed that traces of plants infected with cotton leaf curl disease virus with severity grade 1-2 recovered by the application of potassium nitrate (2%) and produced flower and fruit like normal healthy plants.…”