Effect of silicon sources against sugarcane early shoot borer <i>Chilo infuscatellus</i> Snellen

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted to study the effect of four silicon sources viz., rice husk ash, bagasse ash, calcium silicate and sodium metasilicate against sugarcane early shoot borer, Chilo infuscatellus at Poovanthi and Silaiman villages of Sivagangai and Madurai districts respectively during 2017–18. Silicon fertilizers were applied at the rate of 500 and 1000 kg ha−1 before planting and the pest incidence was recorded at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after the application. The first field experiment revealed that the application of calcium silicate at 1000 and 500 kg ha−1 recorded minimum mean damage incidences of 4.63% and 4.87% respectively and was on par with bagasse ash @ 1000 kg ha−1 + SSB @ 2 kg ha−1 and 500 kg ha−1 + SSB @ 2 kg ha−1 (4.99% and 5.28%) followed by sodium metasilicate at 1000 and 500 kg ha−1 (7.14% and 7.13%), while the treatments with rice husk ash @ 1000 kg ha−1 + SSB @ 2 kg ha−1 and 500 kg ha−1 + SSB @ 2 kg ha−1 (6.69% and 6.97%) was found to be the least effective against early shoot borer. Similar trend was also noticed in the second field experiment conducted at Silaiman, Madurai district.