Ecofriendly Pest and Disease Management Practices in Brinjal Cultivation Gayathri Subbiah 1* and P Kumaravel 2 1 Plant Pathology, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kattupakkam, Kancheepuram district 603 203, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Tamil Nadu, India 2 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kattupakkam, Kancheepuram district 603 203, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Tamil Nadu, India * Corresponding author: Gayathri Subbiah, Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kattupakkam, Kancheepuram district 603 203, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Tamil Nadu, India, Tel: 044-27452371; 9442091883; E-mail: gvs30244@gmail.com Received date: Oct 31, 2015; Accepted date: Nov 27, 2015; Published date: Nov 30, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Gayathri Subbiah, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Brinjal; Organic farming; Panchakavya; Shoot and fruiborer; Pseudomonas fuorescens; Trichoderma viride Short Communication Brinjal is cultivated in an area of 214 ha with production of 3638 mt in Kancheepuram district. Te crop is cultivated throughout the year. It fetches about Rs. 80-100/kg during festive occasions. Te vegetable is preferred during all the season and it is relished by all. Mr. Durai Subbu, aged 73 years of Jameen Endatur in Maduranthagam block of Kancheepuram district does vegetable cultivation in 2 acres of land. He practices organic farming by preparing all the organic inputs by himself and applies the same for vegetable cultivation. He manages the attack of pest and diseases by adopting the indigenous methods of controlling the infestation and further spread of diseases. Te farmer employs the traditional methods of cultivation starting from land preparation to harvest. Te land is ploughed well and Farm Yard Manure (FYM) at the rate of 5 t/acre is applied to enrich the activity of the benefcial organisms. Quality seeds are selected and treated with Trichoderma viride @ 4 gm/kg of seeds. Nursery is raised by sowing the seeds in lines at 10 cm apart and covered with sand. Castor is grown as trap crop for fying insects and is sown 7 days before transplanting. Pulse crops, Black gram and Green gram are also sown in borders to arrest pest population. Te seedlings (30 days old) are transplanted in the main feld by forming ridges and furrows with 5 f spacing between furrows. Te planting is done in a paired row system so as to provide better spacing for sunlight and air circulation which helps in the control of pest and disease infestation. Azospirillum, Pseudomonas and Trichoderma is mixed well with composted farm manure and allowed for 15 days and then handful of these is applied to transplanted brinjal seedlings. First spray of Neem oil 5% is given 15 Days afer Transplanting (DAT) to control sucking pests. Panchakavya spray (20 litres of this can be prepared by mixing cow dung 5 kg, cow urine 3 lit, cow milk 2 lit, curd 2 lit, cow deshi ghee 1/2 kg, sugarcane juice 3 lit or ½ kg jaggery dissolved in 3 lit of water, tender coconut water 3 lit, banana paste of 12 fruits. Mix cow dung and ghee in a container and ferment for 3 days with intermittent stirring. Add rest of the ingredients on the fourth day and ferment for 15 days with stirring twice daily. Te formulation will be ready in 18 days. For foliar spray 3 lit panchakavya is diluted with 100 lit water) is carried out to boost immunity to the plant to provide resistance to diseases. Te spray is repeated every 15 days to repel the pests. To monitor the borers pheromone traps (6 nos./ acre) are installed. To control sucking pests, light trap (1 no./acre) and yellow sticky traps (6 nos./acre) are used. Afer frst weeding, Jeevamirtham (Cow dung 10 kg, cow urine 10 L, Jaggery 2 kg, any sprouted pulse like black gram or green gram or Bengal gram or horse gram four (2 kg) and farm soil 1 kg is mixed in 200 L water and allowed to ferment for 5 to 7 days. Te solution stirred regularly three times a day) is applied along with irrigation. During fowering stage, Fish ensilage (Meen amilam, is prepared by mixing equal ratios of fsh waste and jaggery in a plastic barrel and kept for 21 days for fermentation with stirring) is given @ 250 ml/tank to prevent fower shedding and also to repel pests. Amirthakaraisal (For 200 L of water, cow dung 20 kg, cow urine 20 L and jaggery 2 kg is added and mixed well. Afer 24 hrs of preparation, this can be used) is given during irrigation which helps to increase the antagonistic microbes in the soil. Vermicompost and Neem cake is applied to each plant in the opposite direction to enhance the soil fertility and control the nematode and soil pathogen pest and pathogens respectively at 45 DAT and 60 DAT. In case of severe borer infestation, ginger –garlic paste extract is sprayed and repeated at an interval of once in 10 days. Based on the soil moisture, irrigation is given. About 7-8 t/acre of yield was obtained thereby reducing the amount of Rs.12,000/-spent on the usage of chemicals. In addition, the end produce had better keeping quality and market value than the others grown with chemicals (Figures 1-4). Figure 1: Mr. Durai Subbu with his bioproducts. Gayathri and Kumaravel, J Horticulture 2015, 2:4 DOI: 10.4172/2376-0354.1000167 Short Communication Open Access J Horticulture ISSN:2376-0354 Horticulture, an open access journal Volume 2 • Issue 4 • 1000167 Journal of Horticulture J o u r n a l o f H o r ti c u l t u r e ISSN: 2376-0354