FIELD SCREENING OF BRINJAL VARITIES ON MAJOR PESTS AND THEIR NATURAL ENEMIES

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the response of cultivars/ hybrids/ germplasm of brinjal to major insect pests and their natural enemies. The study revealed that the hybrid, Sweta was the best in reducing the shoot and fruit damage by Leucinodes orbonalis Guen. recording the mean shoot and fruit damage of 8.0 and 8.7 per cent (number basis) and population of spotted leaf beetle, Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab., ash weevil, Myllocerus spp. Guerin, mealybug, Coccidohystrix insolitus Green, aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, leafhopper, Amrasca devastans Ishida and whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) recording 8.0, 0.0, 6.5, 6.3, 0.0 and 0.0 nos./ three leaves, respectively. The hybrids, Bejo Sheetal and Pusa hybrid-6 recorded high population of coccinellids, syrphids and spiders. The biochemical characters such as total sugars, total chlorophyll and moisture content were positively correlated with shoot damage while total phenols and ash content have negative correlation.