Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(4): 1197-1202 1197 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.804.137 Screening of Tomato Cultivars against Fruit Borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) Infesting Tomato in Mid-hills of Meghalaya K. Lalruatsangi 1* , M.L. Chatterjee 1 , Huirem Diana Devi 2 and Sandip Patra 3 1 Central Agricultural University, India 2 Naini Agricultural Institute, SHUATS, Allahabad, India 3 Division of Crop Protection, ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum (Miller) is a popular vegetable for its outstanding antioxidant content. It is one of the most important “protective foods” because of its special nutritive value as the pulp and juice are digestible, mild aperients, promoter of gastric secretion and blood purifier. In India, tomato is cultivated in an area of 882 thousand ha with an average annual production of 18736 thousand tonnes and productivity of 21.2 t ha -1 during 2013- 14 (National Horticulture Board, 2015). Meghalaya is known for production of good quality vegetables among north eastern states (Kumar and Badal, 2004). However, the productivity of tomato is low due to several reasons; the main being the damage caused by insect pests and diseases. Tomato is more prone to insect pests and diseases mainly due to its tenderness and softness as compared to other crops. It is devastated by an array of pests like jassids, aphids, tobacco caterpillar, leaf miner, flea beetles, spider mites, and fruit borer (Katroju et al., 2014). Among these insect pests, fruit borer cause considerable damage to the crop. Tomato fruit borer, International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 04 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The present investigation entitled “Screening of tomato cultivars against fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) infesting tomato in Mid-hills of Meghalaya” was carried out at the Entomology Research Farm, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya during 2015 and 2016. Eleven tomato cultivars were screened against fruit borer, H.armigera infesting tomato. The maximum (39.25% and 37.00%) mean percent fruit infestation was recorded on cultivar Badshah during both the years i.e. 2015 and 2016, while minimum (19.50% and 19.00%) mean percent fruit infestation was recorded on cultivar Selection-2 and MT-2 during the year 2015 and 2016 respectively. None of the cultivars was found to be free from the infestation of fruit borer. It was further revealed that Selection-2 and MT-2 were found to be better cultivar against H. armigera infesting tomato. Keywords Tomato, Cultivars, Helicoverpa armigera, Screening Accepted: 10 March 2019 Available Online: 10 April 2019 Article Info