International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN (Online): 2319-7064 Impact Factor (2012): 3.358 Volume 3 Issue 8, August 2014 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Comparative Efficacy and Economic Feasibility of Certain Bio Rational Insecticides and Endosulfan against Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Eggplant Namram Sobharani Devi 1 , L. B. Singha 2 1 Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal-795004, Manipur, India 2 Department of Forestry, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Nrjuli-791109, Arunachal Pradesh, India Abstract: Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee, or BSFB is a serious pest of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). Due to increasing levels of resistance of L. orbonalis to different insecticides there is an urgent need to test new botanical insecticides so to have a sustainable environment. A field trial was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm, Collage of Agriculture, Central Agriculture University, Imphal for two consecutive years of 2008-09 and 2009-10. To investigate the comparative efficacy of three botanicals, two bio-pesticides and one conventional insecticide against the shoot and fruit borer L. orbonalis Guenee in brinjal crop. The result revealed that Endosulfan 35 EC @ 1000 ml/ha proved to be the most effective treatment against the pests and it was at par with Vijayaneem (Azadirachtin1500 ppm) @ 1000 ml/ha. The mean fruit yield ranged between 23.87 and 19.23 t/ha in the insecticide treatments the highest being in Endosulfan, followed by Vijayaneem (21.66 t/ha), Neembecidine (Azadirachtin 300 ppm) @ 1000 ml/ha (20.52 t/ha) and Neemagold (Azadirachtin 1000 ppm) @1000 ml/ha (20.18 t/ha) which do not differ significantly from each other. The lowest mean fruit yield of 17.40 t/ha was obtained from the plot of untreated control plots. The cost benefit ratio varied from 1:5:14 to 1:12:20 in different insecticidal treatments, the highest being accrued from Endosulfan with a record of maximum monetary benefit of Rs. 31,87,00/ha, closely followed by Vijayaneem (1:12:20) with its net profit of Rs. 28,052,00/ha. Keywords: Endosulfan, eggplant, insecticide, Leucinodes orbonalis, Solanum melongena 1. Introduction The eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) also known as brinjal is one among the most popular and economically important vegetable in Asia. It is grown all over the world. However, the brinjal shoot and fruit borer Leucinodes orbonalis has become a major limiting factor in successful cultivation in Manipur, India causing an extensive damage on these crop. Larvae bore into the young shoots and feeds on internal tissues of plants resulting in wilting of the shoots, which reduces number, growth and size of fruit. Even the slightly damaged fruit are unfit for marketing [1]. Thus, caused considerable yield loss of eggplant every year throughout the cultivation. The losses due to the borer has been estimated to be at the ranges of 26.3 to 62.5 %, notwithstanding, the fact that eggplant growers mostly depends on pesticides to combat this noxious pest [2]. According to Alam et al. [3] over 95 % of farmers (Gujarat) applied more than 40 sprays per season and 86 % sprayed their crop (Uttar Pradesh) two or three times a week. Brinjal is a consumable vegetable crop all over the world. The use of highly persistent synthetic organic insecticides for control of insect pest resulted not only in the development of insecticide resistances in the insect, but also leave toxic residue on fruits causing serious health hazards to consumers. These considerations have prompted the pathologists during recent years to look for alternative bio- rational pest control materials like botanical and microbial agents for effective management of insect pest complex economically with minimum adverse impact on the environment. They are easily biodegradable and do not leave any harmful toxic residue, besides conserving natural enemies like parasitoids and predators. Among the botanical insecticides, neem formulations have been reported to give good control of insect pest attacking brinjal crop [4]. In India neem based insecticides are evaluated in many of the insect pest and similar efforts are still in progress. Although, there are also various botanical insecticides and bacterial formulations available in the market which are evaluated and found effective against brinjal shoot and fruit borer that are safe and do not pose any problem to resistance in insect, no earlier studies were made on such insecticidal management of L. orbonalis under Manipur agro climatic conditions. Therefore, this study was undertaken with the objectives to investigate the effectiveness for controlling the pest in the field in different seasons of the year in Manipur, India. 2. Materials and Methods The field trial was experimented at the Vegetable Research Farm, College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal for two consecutive years of 2008-09 and 2009-10 to compared the field efficacy of three botanical (Nimbecidine, Vijayaneem and Neemagold) and two biopesticides Delfin (Bt. formulation), and Larvocel (Beauveria bassiania formulation) with one conventional insecticides (Endosulfan) against the L. orbonalis in brinjal crop. A separate field experiment was laid-out in randomized block design (RBD) with 7 (seven) treatments Paper ID: 02015316 454