Bio-efficacy of Chlorantraniliprole 35 wg against Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) Hardwick in Tomato R. D. PATEL, V. R. PARMAR AND N. B. PATEL Main Vegetable Research Station, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat email : nainesh@aau.in Trends in Biosciences 9(15), Print : ISSN 0974-8431, 793-798, 2016 ABSTRACT The field experiment conducted at Main Vegetable Research Station, Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat) for evaluating bio-efficacy of three doses of chlorantraniliprole 35 WG (22, 26 and 30 g a.i./ha); chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 30 g a.i./ha with two standard checks, viz., lambda-cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 15 and novaluron 10 EC @ 75 g a.i./ha against tomato fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera) during Rabi , 2012 and 2014. Result revealed that chlorantraniliprole 35 WG @ 30 g a.i./ha reduce larval population of H. armigera as well as lowest per cent of fruit damage compared to standard checks. Fruit yield was recorded significantly higher in plots treated with chlorantraniliprole 35 WG @ 30 (270.71 q/ha) followed by chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 30 g a.i./ha (267.36 q/ha). All doses of chlorantraniliprole were found safer to spider population. Key words Chlorantraniliprole, H. armigera, tomato, spider Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.is an important vegetable crop grown in all over the world. It is a rich source of several minerals and vitamins. This crop is severely attacked by various insect pests viz., fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) Hardwick; whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius); aphid, Aphis gossypii (Glover); leaf eating caterpillar, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius); american serpentine leaf miner, Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) and red spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Koch).Of these, fruit borer, H. armigera is the importantone and responsible for major yield loss in tomato. It is estimated that annual crop losses globally due to H. armigera alone are about 5 billion dollar (Sharma, 2001). In India, theyield loss due to this devastating pest was to the tune of 38 per cent (Dhandapani et al., 2003; Selvanarayanan and Narayanasamy, 2006). Since alternate crop protection measures have very limited success criteria’s, farmers have todepend upon the use of pesticides to overcome the pest quickly and effectively. However, the indiscriminate use of pesticides has resulted in numerous environmental and health problems (Ignacimuthu, 2007). Since tomato is an edible and extremely perishable commodity, the recommended period between the application of pesticide and marketing even consumption of the commodity is hardly observed. So there are fewer chances that farmers follow the ethics of plant protection and produce a product which can be fairly safe from health hazards. Therefore, it needs time to evaluate the efficacy of newer insecticides which are relatively safer for the human health, environment, farmers’ adoption, extension workers and researchers’ potential safe products and their efficacy against H. armigera which is worldwide regular pest of this crop. The safe and effective pesticides can be recommended on this important crop, as it is grown domestically in the pots and kitchen gardens as well as commercially in tunnels and fields all over the world. Chlorantraniliprole (IRAC MoA Group 28) is a second generation Anthranilic diamide insecticide discovered by DuPont India Private Limited. It has unique mode of action targeting the Ryanodine receptors in insect muscle cells (IRAC, 2012). It is non-disruptive green labeled insecticide with moderate to no impact on predators and parasitoids.Therefore, to assess the bio-efficacy and to determine the effective dose of this insecticide for the suppression of tomato fruit borer, the present work was carried out. MATERIALS AND METHODS The field experiment was conducted during Rabi seasons of 2012 and 2014 to evaluate the three doses of chlorantraniliprole 35 WG and two standard checks for their bio-efficacy and safety to spider population in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) at Main Vegetable Research Station, Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat). Tomato (cv. Gujarat Tomato 2) was grown in plot of 4.5 x 4.2 m with a spacing of 90 × 60 cm with recommended standard agronomical practices except crop protection measures. There were seven treatments replicated three times. The insecticidal treatments included chlorantraniliprole 35 WG @ 22, 26 and 30 g a.i./ha; chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 30 g a.i./ha and two standard checks, lambda- cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 15 g a.i./ha and novaluron 10 EC @ 75 g a.i./ha. The respective insecticides were sprayed on tomato by manually operated knapsack