Efficacy of Different Pesticides Against Red Pumpkin Beetle (Aulacophora Foveicollis Lucas) in Summer Squash Plant

Red pumpkin beetle (RPB) ( Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas) is one of the major insect pests of the Cucurbitaceae family that cause severe damage to plants affecting the seedling establishment and lowering yield. Efficacy of two biopesticides viz. jholmol-3 (200 ml/l), neem seed-kernel extract (5 ml/l) and three microbial pesticides viz. Bacillus thuringiensis (2 g/l), Metarhizium anisopliae (5 ml/l), Beauveria bassiana (3 ml/l), and one chemical pesticide viz. imidacloprid (2 ml/l) along with control (water) was evaluated against RPB in summer squash plant at the field of IAAS, Paklihawa, Nepal. The main aim of this study was to assess the performance of different pesticides for the management of RPB in an economically and environmentally sound way. Seven treatments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments were found superior over control in every spraying. The result indicated neem seed-kernel extract, jholmol, and imidacloprid were equally significant for RPB population reduction followed by microbial pesticides. The minimum leaf infestation percentage was recorded in neem seed-kernel extract-treated plots. The yield of summer squash was significantly highest with neem seed-kernel extract (49.09 t/ha) and imidacloprid (47.01 t/ha) application, while lowest in control (25.19 t/ha). The lowest ICBR was obtained in imidacloprid (1:2.75), followed by jholmol (1: 2.74) and Need seed-kernel extract (1:2.50). Repellant, antifeedant and repugnant properties of botanicals leads to lower infestation rate and increase yield of the plant. Botanical pesticides like neem seed-kernel extract and jholmol can therefore be recommended to the farmers as better control measures compared to chemical pesticides.